It Is What You Think It Is Until It Isn't
by PurpleHipposRock
Summary: A marriage that isn't a marriage. A partnership that might be a relationship. And lives hanging in the balance... Completely Densi because in my opinion, Shane Brennan gives too much of of the glory to Callen & Sam . I don't own NCIS:LA... ENJOY!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Kensi

It was a normal Monday morning, same as any other, really. I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock announcing that it was six-fifteen in the morning and was set to be a gorgeous day in the mid to high eighties. Another gorgeous day in the City of Angels. Another normal day. Or so I thought.

You see, I didn't bet on getting married, today. I didn't really _want_ to get married, nor did I _mean_ to get married, it just kind of happened.

Yes, I know that marriage is something that you generally think a lot about; generally, for most women, on the day that they get married, they get up, get dressed in a pretty white dress and walk down the aisle.

But for me, it was different. I got out of bed, drank a cup of coffee, ate a stale doughnut, dressed in shorts and a tank top and went for a jog. Afterwards, I came back, showered, dressed in jeans and a white button-down shirt, had another cup of coffee and then headed off to work.

And you know why I did that?

I had no idea that I was getting married today.

…

'Good morning, Sunshine,' Deeks greeted me from his desk. For once, he was early.

'You managed to drag yourself away from the surf for once,' I said in amazement, pouring myself another cup of coffee.

'Didn't go surfing this morning,' he replied.

'Oh, let me guess; you've got a house guest that was more entertaining, right?' I asked, trying to keep the annoying pang of jealousy hidden so deep that he wouldn't see it.

'Actually, no. I slept in.'

I stared at him in amazement. 'You slept in? You never sleep in. You're always up at the crack of dawn to surf. It's like your biological clock is hardwired to your surfing schedule.'

'Then I wish his biological clock would inform him of the fact that he needs to get off of that board earlier than he usually does,' Sam said, coming into the bullpen. 'My God. He's here early.'

'Would you believe that it's because he slept in?' I asked.

'How can you be early if you slept in?' Callen asked, joining them.

'I slept too late to go surfing,' Deeks said as if it were obvious. 'So I came in early instead. I even beat Kensi.'

'Not a great feat,' I replied. 'I went for a run this morning. Took an extra loop. Took me longer.'

'You are a bit later this morning than usual,' Sam commented, checking his watch.

'But I still would've beaten Deeks.'

'You would've, if Deeks hadn't decided to "sleep in",' Callen replied.

Deeks chuckled and stretched out in his chair. 'Ah, great. More paperwork. I should've just gone surfing anyway.'

'And then you'd have to catch up on your paperwork,' I reminded him.

'I guess so.' He didn't seem so enthused by the thought of doing said paperwork, but picked up a file and a pen anyway.

'Or perhaps not, Mr Deeks.' Hetty suddenly appeared in their midst, leading Eric and Nell. 'Actually, not at all.'

'Why not?' Callen asked. 'Do we have a case?'

Hetty smiled enigmatically at them. 'Actually, yes.'

…

'This is Lieutenant David Paulson,' Hetty informed the team, motioning for Eric to pull up a picture of said man. 'He got married three months ago. Five months ago, his then fiancé, now wife, gave birth to a baby girl.'

'Wow. How touching. What does this have to do with us?' Callen asked.

'Lieutenant Paulson is part of a highly classified intelligence team. He's been working on an encryption/decryption program which the Navy eventually hopes to share with the US's allies in an attempt to more safely exchange information. Unfortunately, our enemies have also taken a rather large interest in this technology as well.'

'He's in danger, isn't he?' Deeks asked.

'Very much so. He's already got armed escorts to and from the base and home, and we've tried to persuade him to take up temporary residence in the security of the base, but this is a man who has done two tours of Iraq – he claims to be not afraid of anything.' Hetty shook her head and addressed Sam. 'You Navy men. You think that we think that there's a chance that you're scared of something and you go all macho and idiotic on us.'

'So, he's in massive danger from some of the most powerful countries on this Earth due to the fact that he's got knowledge of very, very powerful technology and he's refusing protection,' Deeks summarised. 'Oh, joy.'

'What are we going to do?' I asked.

'Well, we've been tasked with protecting the lieutenant and his family for the next month. The algorithm has almost been finished, it just has a few glitches that have to be worked out, hopefully in the next two weeks, and then it will be put to use and after that point, the lieutenant is going on terminal leave.'

Deeks blinked, confused. 'What's terminal leave?'

'He'll be leaving the Navy after the terminal leave time is up,' Sam said.

'After which time we will have no jurisdiction over the case, and any protection duties will be up to the FBI or Homeland Security,' Hetty said.

'So, we've got basically… a month, to stop the bad guys from getting to the lieutenant,' Deeks said.

'Yes,' Hetty replied.

'How the heck are we supposed to do that if he doesn't want any protection?' Callen asked.

'Oh, no, hang on, let me guess,' I said dryly. 'The house next door to theirs has suddenly become vacant, right?'

'Well, actually, it's the house across the street, but yes,' Eric said, pulling up the pictures of a nice house in a sweet-looking neighbourhood.

'So, we'll be taking turns to do surveillance?' Callen asked.

'Actually, that's where you're wrong,' Hetty jumped in.

'We're not going to be doing surveillance?' Sam asked.

'Well, some of you are. However, the others will be following leads in an attempt to neutralise the threats before they have a chance to attack,' Hetty said.

'Great. Who's doing what?' Callen asked.

'Well, we've figured that whoever is doing the surveillance should gain the lieutenant's trust by developing a relationship with him and his family,' Nell said. 'Well, actually, Nate said that.'

'Sounds like something that Nate would say,' I said. 'Well, have fun with that, guys,' I continued, looking at Callen and Sam.

'Why are you assuming that we're doing it?' Callen asked.

'Because you're the senior agents and you get to do all of the undercover stuff,' Deeks said.

'You're still sore about the Cayman Islands thing, aren't you?' Sam asked, grinning.

'No. Actually, I was rather looking forward to you guys trying to portray a gay couple,' Deeks said nonchalantly.

Callen and Sam stared at him, and finally Callen managed to ask, 'What makes you think that we'd have that as our cover?'

'Well, two guys over forty living together and being friendly with the neighbours…' Deeks began.

'You'd kind of have to be… together,' I finished.

'Lucky for you, Mr Callen, Mr Hanna, you won't be doing the undercover component part of this assignment.'

'We won't?' Callen asked.

'They won't?' Deeks asked.

'They won't,' Hetty confirmed. 'No, I believe that this would be an assignment better suited to the male/female partnership in this team.'

Deeks and I stared at each other and then at Hetty.

'Hetty, um, I don't know how to say this exactly,' Deeks began.

'This is a very, very, very bad idea,' I jumped in.

'Really bad,' Deeks emphasised.

'I don't see why it should be,' Hetty said.

'Because one of them won't survive it, and my bet's on Deeks,' Callen said with a wry grin. 'Sorry, man, but I know better than to bet against Kensi.'

'Oh, no, my bet's on me too,' Deeks replied before turning to Hetty. 'Hetty, if you have any interest in my ongoing health and wellbeing, you will not put me and Kensi on this assignment together.'

'Why shouldn't I?' Hetty asked.

'A whole month?' Deeks asked.

'She'd kill him in the first week,' Sam said.

'Week?' I asked, looking at the older partners. 'That's optimistic.'

'Try days,' Deeks said. 'Hetty, you are very much lowering my life expectancy.'

'Lowering your life expectancy?' Callen asked. 'Hetty, you're signing his death warrant.'

'Death certificate,' Deeks muttered darkly, sending me a sideways look through thick lashes.

'But I'm still sending them out there,' Hetty said with a smile. 'I think that this will be a good bonding experience. These two haven't done very much undercover work together.'

'We've done heaps,' Deeks said indignantly. He turned to me. 'Remember Ines? Fern?' He turned to Hetty. 'Have you completely forgotten how we met?'

A small smile picked up the corners of my lips. 'Tracey and Jason Wyler.'

'Exactly,' he said, pointing at me.

'You haven't done anything that hasn't lasted for a few hours at most,' Hetty corrected herself.

We exchanged a glance. 'She has a point,' I finally said.

'Most of our undercover work lasts an hour at most,' Deeks said.

'If that,' I continued.

'I guess we could use the practise,' Deeks said slowly.

'You do know that even if you said no, you'd still be doing this, right?' Callen asked.

Deeks and I looked at Hetty, who smiled at us. 'Mr Beale, Miss Jones, please set up covers for Miss Blye and Mr Deeks.'

Hetty suddenly left the room. 'Miss Blye, Mr Deeks, come to me in fifteen minutes. Oh, and Eric?'

'Yeah, Hetty?' Eric asked, looking up from his computer screen.

'Remember, they're married.'

Deeks and I stared at each other and then at the closing automatic doors behind which Hetty had just disappeared.

'Married?'

…

**Please review… Pretty please?**

**A/N: You may have noticed that this story is in "first person" – This means, however, that when you're a writer like me (i.e. constantly changing) that the person who doing the talking is subject to change. For example, this chapter is from Kensi's perspective, while the next will be from Deeks' perspective. If it gets too confusing, let me know and I'll do what I can to make it more clear.**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Deeks

'Married? Are you serious, Hetty?' I asked.

'Very much, Mr Deeks,' she replied, handing me a pair of jeans to try on. I checked the tag; they were a size smaller than the jeans that I usually wore. I struggled into them anyway; it would take a braver man than me to argue with Hetty over clothing. Hell, even Callen just wore whatever Hetty handed him.

'Um…' I silenced my doubts as I suddenly realised that I couldn't do up the zipper of the jeans; maybe this was why Hetty had handed these jeans to me – I was concentrating so much on doing up the jeans without causing myself unnecessary harm that I didn't have the breath to argue with Hetty about the whole "marriage" thing.

'You have a problem with marriage, Mr Deeks?' Hetty asked.

'Me? No. Kensi…'

Me, personally, I have no problem with marriage. I even figured that one day I'd maybe even meet the right girl, get up the courage to get down on one knee, watch her walk down the aisle in a pretty white dress, put a ring on her finger and say "I do". Hell, maybe one day I'd have a couple of kids underfoot. Though with the tightness of these jeans, procreating seems kind of doubtful at this point.

But Kensi…

Well, let's just say, Kensi's track record with marriage isn't something that encourages anything more than a first date.

Sometimes, I dream, though. Getting down on bended knee before Kensi in a crowded restaurant, her looking even more beautiful than ever, and presenting her with a diamond ring; standing on the altar of a church and watching her walk towards me in a pretty white dress – something pretty, but completely Kensi at the same time, putting a ring on her finger and saying I do.

Those are dangerous dreams, though. Kensi would most likely castrate me if she even thought that I had those types of thoughts.

'Mr Deeks?' Hetty's voice broke into my thoughts.

With a yell, I managed to pull the zipper up and winced. 'Ow.'

'Mr Deeks, are you alright?'

_Well, I just hope that Kensi wears something totally un-hot on this assignment, because I could do some serious damage to some important organs if I even _think_ dirty thoughts… Hey, maybe that's Hetty's plan…_

'These jeans seem a little tight,' I said, coming out of my stall.

Hetty looked me over critically. 'Turn around.'

I did so.

'Not at all,' Hetty said, smiling at me. 'They show off your assets just right – they look like something that your wife most definitely would've chosen for you.'

_My _assets_? Was Hetty just checking me out? No…_

'Are you sure? Because it…' I tried to think of a way to phrase it delicately. 'They don't allow room for expansion.'

Hetty saw right through me. 'You'll just have to control your urges, Mr Deeks. Now, put this on.' She handed me the suit that I'd wore for the Christopher Stone cover, but with a different tie.

'Is my cover a business man?' I asked, re-entering the stall.

'No. That's your wedding suit.'

'What?' I froze, the jeans half-down my legs.

'That's your wedding suit,' she patiently repeated.

'But- we're not- Hetty, I'm _not_ marrying Kensi!'

I'd forgotten that Kensi was only a few stalls down, trying on clothes herself. 'Hey!'

'What, you'd want to marry me?' I asked, suddenly distracted.

'Well, no, but it's the principal of the matter. Women don't like to be told that a man doesn't want to marry them.'

'Oh, trust me, if I had to get married, I'd choose you.'

'You _do_ have to get married,' Hetty pointed out bluntly.

Kens was still stuck on the point that I'd choose her. 'You'd choose me, Deeks? That's sweet… I think.'

'Are you dressed yet, Mr Deeks?' Hetty asked.

'Yup,' I said glumly. 'Well, almost.' I was struggling with the tie, which was a pale blue-green colour, but came out anyway.

Hetty looked me up and down. 'Well, after your hair is combed, you'll look very good.'

'Great.' I turned back into the stall to get dressed again.

'Where are you going?' Hetty asked, and I turned back around.

'To get dressed?'

'No, you're not. You'll need those clothes in a minute.'

I dropped the tie. 'What?'

'Hetty, I don't remember planning a wedding, and I definitely don't recall setting the date for today.' The door of the stall down the hall swung open, and Kensi appeared. 'However, this dress is incredible. It's exactly what I would've chosen if I were getting married.'

'I thought so,' Hetty said.

I didn't say anything, mostly due to the fact that Kensi looked so incredible that words couldn't describe her.

Finally, the words managed to come out of my mouth. 'Did it hurt?'

Kensi looked at me, confused. 'Did what hurt?'

'When you fell from Heaven? Because you look like an angel.'

Kensi actually blushed, pink staining her porcelain cheeks. 'Thanks.'

'Hey, Hetty, isn't it bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding?' I joked.

'Considering that there will be no wedding, no, it isn't.'

Kensi frowned. 'If there's going to be no wedding, why am I in this getup?'

'Don't tell me there's a plane waiting to take us to Vegas?' I asked.

Kensi glared at me. 'I am not getting married in Vegas.'

'You're not getting married at all,' Hetty finally managed to say.

'Then what's with the wedding clothes?' I asked.

'The pictures,' Hetty said. 'Your neighbours are going to be visiting; you're newlyweds – it would be strange if there weren't a few wedding pictures floating around.'

'So you're making us dress up _just_ for pictures?' Kensi asked. She watched me unsuccessfully fiddle around with my tie for a few moments longer before shaking her head. 'Give me that.'

I surrendered my tie to her, and she reached up and lifted my collar. I caught the soft aroma of her perfume, and it swirled around us, cocooning us in a sweet-scented web.

'You look amazing,' I murmured to her. 'More than amazing. Gorgeous. Beautiful.'

She blushed again and finished tying my tie. 'You don't look too bad yourself. If nothing, it'll be a nice wedding picture.' She patted me on the chest before picking up her skirts, revealing white high-heels, and slowly making her way out of the dressing rooms.

'Uh huh.' I stared after her, completely dumbstruck. A beautiful woman will do that to me. And when it's Kensi in a wedding dress, talking about marrying _me_, well, that thing in my head isn't good at doing that thing that it's supposed to.

Hetty patted me on the elbow, the highest thing that she could reach of me. 'Come on, Mr Deeks. We've got some pictures to shoot.'

She handed me a hairbrush, and I stared after her. 'What exactly am I supposed to do with this?'

…

When I stepped out into the bullpen, Callen, Sam, Eric, Nell, Hetty and Kens in all her wedding dress glory were standing there, all dressed up. Callen, Sam and Eric were dressed in suits similar to mine, while Nell was dressed in a blue-green dress that matched my tie.

'Wow,' I said, looking at Hetty who held a pretty professional-looking camera. 'If I didn't know any better, I'd think that we've got a wedding to attend.'

'My God,' Sam said. 'You actually brushed your hair.'

Kensi frowned. 'It's not right.' She stalked over to me and reached up and started to reorganise my hair.

'Hey!' I protested, shying away. 'I don't let my own mother do that.'

'Deal with it,' she replied, her face tantalizingly close to mine. I had to concentrate hard on not kissing her.

'I'm trying, but I can't!' I looked down and realised that she had hold of me by my tie. 'Hey!'

'You'd look better with your hair like this,' Kensi said, brushing my hair this way and that with her free hand before finally releasing me.

'She's right,' Nell said critically. 'You do look better like that.'

'Where are we going to take the pictures?' I asked.

Hetty smiled. 'I think you're going to like this place, Mr Deeks.'

…

'Why couldn't I drive?' Kensi complained, getting out of the back of her silver SUV.

'Because you're in a wedding dress,' I said.

'I once rode a motorcycle in a bridesmaid dress once,' Kensi replied.

'For God's sake, why?' I asked.

'I was chasing a suspect.'

'Let me guess, you hotwired this one too.'

'Actually, no. It had a button.'

'Are you guys always like this?' Nell asked. She'd ridden in the back with Kensi, and was now helping her with her long white skirt.

'Yes,' I said, at the exact same time that she said, 'No.'

I shook my head. 'Is it always going to be like this?' I asked. 'I say push, you pull, I say hot, you say cold?'

'Yup,' Kensi said before walking away from me.

I looked out over the ocean, and a smile spread over my face. 'You were right, Hetty,' I said to her as she got out of her Jag. 'I do like this place.'

'I thought you would,' Hetty said, looking out over the pristine beach. 'I think maybe over there would look nice,' she continued, pointing over at a nice looking bit. 'Oh, and Mr Deeks?'

I turned around and walked back to her. 'Yeah?'

'You'll need these.' She held out three small jewellery boxes.

'Oh.' I took them and looked in each. The first was a plain gold band, and after I checked the measurements, I realised that this one was mine. I took it out of the box and put it on my ring finger on my left hand. It felt strange there – not unpleasant, just strange.

I looked up, and saw Kensi walking between Nell and Sam. She was laughing at something Sam had said, and she looked utterly and completely beautiful. But she was missing something, and I had it in my hands.

'Hey, Kens! Wait up!' I called, running after them.

'Yup. Waiting,' Kens said, and I could see her tapping her foot, even beneath her long skirts.

I quickly checked the boxes, and tucked the one that I momentarily didn't need into my pocket.

I finally caught up with her, and after spending a moment regaining my breath (hey, it isn't easy to run on soft sand – in fact, it's really hard), slid down onto one knee, a huge grin on my face. I presented her with the engagement ring, a fairly modest diamond solitaire affair, and said, with my best pleading expression, 'Will you marry me?'

Kensi rolled her eyes in the way that I had come to love, plucked the ring from the box and stuck it on her finger. 'Really, Deeks? You're getting all sandy.'

I rose back up onto two legs and dusted myself off. 'I s'pose you want this one too.' I held out the wedding ring box.

'Yup.' She reached for it, but I suddenly snatched it away.

'Hey! Deeks,' she growled.

'Hang on. Wanna do this right…' I opened the box and took the ring out before taking her left hand and placing it on her ring finger. 'With this ring, I thee fake wed.' I grinned down at her. 'Time to kiss the bride?

'Nope.' She then set about very carefully stepping on my toes before walking off to join Nell.

Hetty clapped her hands. 'I think this is the perfect spot.'

She then set about placing Kensi and I in a suitable location and pose, and then artistically arranging the others around us.

'No, no, no!' Hetty said, shaking her finger at Eric, who was just kind of standing there with a hapless grin on his face. The poor guy was actually wearing pants, and shoes with laces! I could tell he was wondering how the hell he had gotten himself roped into this. I was wondering the same thing. 'Mr Beale, this is the happiest day of their lives! Look happy for them!'

Eric managed to pull his lips into a smile, and Hetty turned on Callen.

'Mr Callen, that is not a suitable pose for a wedding picture.' We all looked at Callen, who was standing next to me on one foot with a grimace on his face.

'You do know that these shoes are one size too small?' he asked. 'It really hurts.'

'Deal with it, Mr Callen,' Hetty said dismissively, and set about arranging him so that he looked happy for Kensi and I.

Finally happy with our poses and positions (you'd think that we really had just gotten married, the way that Hetty carried on), she produced a small bouquet of white roses and a much larger one absolutely brimming with white roses, which she handed to Nell and Kensi respectively.

'Right,' she said, standing behind the camera on its tripod and glaring at us all. 'Smile.'

We did, and she clicked away.

'Alright, let's just have Miss Blye and Mr Deeks now,' she finally said, after which time I'd started to think that the smile would have to be scraped off of my face. My cheeks hurt, I'd smiled that much.

'Come on, really?' Kensi asked as the others dashed away, getting away before Hetty could change her mind. 'Isn't that enough?'

I kind of silently agreed with her, but didn't dare say so out loud. Hetty could, after all, switch those ridiculously tight jeans for a size even smaller. And then I'd really have something to complain about.

'Nonsense. You're newlyweds, and you're going to be in a suburb of Los Angeles where for the first few days, you're going to be flooded with neighbours. That's why I've insisted that you all get into the photos. If one of your neighbours comes in to find Callen and Sam giving you a briefing, or Eric and Nell making adjustments to your computer, you'll at least be able to back up your story that they're your close friends.'

Kensi sighed. 'Alright, but can we make this quick? The sand is getting into my shoes and it's really uncomfortable.'

We took a few shots, first looking happily at the camera, and then a few more staring "romantically" into each other's eyes.

'Are we done?' I asked, after one last really awkward shot where I was sure that Kensi _knew_ I was thinking about tearing that dress off of her. It wasn't that I didn't like the dress – it's just that I'm pretty sure I'd like it off of her even more…

'Yes, yes,' Hetty said absently, flicking through the images on her camera. 'Yes, we've got some beauties.' She handed to camera to Nell. 'To be developed, ASAP.'

'I'm driving,' Kensi announced on the trek back to the car.

I opened my mouth to say 'No, not dressed like that,' but Hetty beat me to it.

'Not dressed like that you aren't!' she said. 'That dress is worth more than I'm willing to risk by you driving in it,' she continued, and Kensi looked down at herself and gulped.

Kens sighed and handed the keys back to me. 'Fine.'

'Come on, Princess. We've got a house to move into.'

'Deeks, please, to protect my sanity, don't call me Princess.'

…

**Review please…**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Kensi

I handed the white dress back to Hetty and she scuttled off to put it away, most likely in a safe or something. I was really glad to be rid of it – I've got one wedding dress tucked away in a box beneath ten other boxes of wedding paraphernalia in my spare room; I didn't need another.

The memories that came up when I put on that dress weren't _bad_ memories, per se, they were just… unwanted. I didn't need those memories cropping up again, but they did anyway.

I walked out into the bullpen to find the others had changed back into their normal clothes, all except Deeks, anyway.

Deeks was wearing a blue t-shirt, jeans and a black leather jacket, and yes, I know that for him, that's pretty standard, but his jeans, they were… well, I've got to be honest, I don't know how he actually got into them. They were… tight. Like, skin tight. Like, very, very, very good tight.

'Hey,' I said, my eyes going straight to his left hand, where a simple gold band resided.

'Hey yourself,' he replied.

'Have we got any leads?' I asked.

'No, no leads that might concern you and no new information concerning your op,' Nell said.

'So, good luck, I guess,' Eric said.

'Come on, wife dear,' Deeks said, offering me his arm.

'Please, for God's sake, don't call me that,' I pleaded.

He grinned. 'Okay, Princess.'

'Hang on!' Hetty called, appearing in our midst in a way that only she can.

'Have we forgotten something?' Deeks asked dryly, motioning to the two large suitcases on the floor.

'Your identification,' Hetty said, handing us two wallets.

'Hey,' Deeks said, looking at his driving license. 'You've made me three years younger. I'm only twenty-nine now.' He leaned over my shoulder, and I could smell his ever-present scent of sea, sand and Starbucks. 'Hey… they took _four_ years off of you.'

'It only makes me twenty-five,' I pointed out. I looked at Nell, who had undoubtedly made this ID. 'You think I can pull off twenty-five?'

'Definitely,' Nell replied. 'Oh and, here.' She handed us two frames.

Deeks held his up to reveal the group photo. 'Nice,' he commented.

I looked at mine. It was just Deeks and I, one of the shots where Hetty had insisted that he and I stare into each other's eyes. His left hand held my right hand, and his head was dipped close to mine. I could remember taking this photo, his warm fingers intertwined with mine. He'd dipped his head at Hetty's request, and I'd looked into his dark blue eyes and had just been caught at the depth and emotion in them. I'd wanted to kiss him so much at that point, but managed to stop myself, mostly because there was a camera taking our photos and I didn't want a huge mistake recorded on film.

'I loved that one,' Nell admitted, looking at the photo too. 'It actually looks like you two might actually love each other.'

'We're good actors,' Deeks immediately said. Well, that made his feelings clear. There were none.

There are times when I think that maybe, Deeks might think of me as something other than a partner and a friend. But when he said something like that, well, that just shot it all to hell again, didn't it?

'Well, we better get going,' I said, trying to not let the disappointment and plain _tiredness_ come out in my voice. Deeks sensed it anyway. He always does.

'You alright, Kens?' he asked me, picking up both suitcases despite my protest that I'd get my own.

'Just not looking forwards to being stuck with _you_ for a month,' I replied.

'Not true,' Deeks immediately said. 'You are _totally_ looking forwards to spending the month with me.'

I made a face. 'Mmmm… not really. I have to pretend to love you.'

'You won't have to pretend,' Deeks said, putting the suitcases down beside the car and slinging an arm around my shoulders.

'Deeks,' I growled, not in the mood for his flirtation.

'Someone is grumpy today,' he replied, putting the bags in the car. 'C'mon, shake it off. You're a newlywed moving into your dream home. You ought to be the happiest person in the world!'

I managed to put a smile on my face.

'There we go!' he grinned at me, before taking my keys from me. 'I bags driving.'

I sighed. 'All right.'

'What, no argument?' he asked.

'No argument.' I climbed into the passenger seat and buckled my seatbelt before closing my eyes.

'Do we have a problem, Kensi?' he asked slowly, starting the car.

'No problem,' I answered, opening my eyes and staring out of the window.

'You sure?' he asked.

'Just… just drive, Deeks.'

…

The GPS beeped, and Deeks pulled up in the driveway of a quaint little creamy-white house with a white picket fence surrounding a rose garden and gravel path.

'Well, this is…' Deeks trailed off, trying to find words to describe it.

'Cute,' I said decisively.

I could feel his eyes staring at me. 'That isn't a word I'd generally associate with you.'

'This house _is_ cute,' I replied. 'It's tiny.'

'Two stories, one bedroom, one and a half bathrooms, bedroom-cum-study, living room, den, kitchen, back patio, front balcony, pool,' he listed.

I looked at him in surprise.

'Nell briefed me while you were getting dressed,' he informed me.

'Only one bedroom, huh?' I asked.

'Uh huh,' he said. 'Guess we'll be sharing.' He grinned lecherously at me.

'Remember, Deeks, I'm still armed,' I reminded him.

'Yes, Princess. Hang on.' He jumped out of the car and was by my side before I'd even opened the door. He opened the door for me and offered his hand with a flourish. 'Remember,' he whispered, 'You love me.'

I rolled my eyes but pasted a smile on and gave him my hand. And then very suddenly, I found myself suspended in mid-air.

'D-Marty!' I squealed, catching myself just in time, remembering that his last name wasn't Deeks, and as his "wife", I wouldn't be calling him that anyway. 'What the hell are you doing?'

'What does it look like?' he asked, beginning to walk towards the house.

'It looks like you're making a fool of yourself and trying very hard to hurt yourself. Put me down, you fool!' I laughed.

'Never,' he laughed as well, before opening the front door and carrying me through.

'No, really, Marty, what are you doing?' I asked as he put me down just inside the open door.

'Carrying you through the threshold,' he grinned, reaching up and gently brushing his fingers against my cheek before bending down and gently kissing me.

And it was the most amazing kiss that I'd ever received. His lips were soft and warm and sweet, and his fingers were threading into my hair and pulling me closer and I wasn't doing a damn thing to stop it. In fact, I was kissing back.

And when he pulled away, I couldn't help it. I whimpered.

'What was that?' I whispered.

'A newlywed couple putting on a show for the neighbours who are undoubtedly peeking through their windows right about now,' he murmured in my ear, before kissing my cheek.

I put a smile on my face (not a hard feat – it had been threatening to break free ever since he kissed me) and let him kiss me again. And it was even better than the first time. He drew away, and stared into my eyes, and opened his mouth. 'Kens…'

Suddenly, we were interrupted by a car horn honking, and we both turned to see Callen and Sam in a moving van, closely followed by Eric and Nell in a car stuffed with various objects of furniture and other things.

'Hey, lovebirds!' Callen called, leaning through the open window of the moving van. 'You gonna give us a hand?'

'Yeah, I guess,' Deeks said reluctantly, leaving me standing dazed in the doorway to go and help the guys.

Nell joined me in the doorway. 'It's a beautiful house.'

I nodded. 'It's lovely.'

'And how is Deeks to kiss?' she asked with a sly smile.

I smiled. 'It's something that I think I can get used to.'

She laughed. 'Come on. Let's go and help them.'

Deeks handed me a box labelled 'crockery'.

'Aunt Hetty thought of everything,' he said in a low voice, smiling at me.

I smiled back, and went into the house, where I got my first proper look at it. It was tastefully decorated with wood floors and brightly coloured walls, soft yellows and greens and blues. It was completely empty in the vestibule, but the kitchen had built in cupboards, for which I was very grateful as I began to empty the box of plates and bowls into one of the cupboards. Nell soon joined me with a box of cutlery and after a few trips back and forth, we soon had the kitchen stocked with things to eat off and with.

'Now all you need is the fridge and the stove,' Nell said. 'Ah! Speak of the devil…'

Callen and Sam entered the room, carrying a large box between them. Deeks followed them with a large box on a fridge trolley.

'Did someone order a stove and a fridge?' Callen asked, putting his end of the box down.

'Actually, yes,' Nell said as Eric entered carrying a smaller box. 'And a microwave too, I see.'

'Hetty really went all out with this, didn't she?' I asked as Deeks took the box off of the fridge.

'She said that after this, the house is gonna be used as a safe house,' Eric said. 'So she wanted it properly furnished.'

'And she is definitely making sure of that,' I remarked, watching Callen and Sam set up the stove.

We spent the good part of three hours carrying and setting up, but all too soon, Callen checked his watch and announced that they had to get back to work.

'Seriously?' I asked. 'The place is still a mess.'

'That's your problem,' Sam grinned at me.

Deeks laughed. 'Thanks, guys.'

'See you guys later,' Nell said, getting into the car next to Eric.

Eric waves. 'Tonight, nine!' he called, and I knew that he was setting up a time for us to video-conference so that he could set up the surveillance system from the Ops Centre.

'Definitely, man!' Deeks called back. 'I'll win, you know that right?'

'No chance, Marty!' he called back before driving away.

'See you,' Callen called from the open window of the moving van. 'Aunt Hetty said that she's coming to visit tomorrow.'

'Awesome,' Deeks said dryly. 'And you left the place only half set-up!'

'Marty, we've got stuff to do,' Sam called back, laughing, before waving at me. 'Good luck with him, Kensi!'

'I'll need it,' I called back, and with that they were gone and we were alone.

'Well,' Deeks said awkwardly. 'Let's get started again.'

'Uh huh,' I said, going back into the house.

He followed, and shut the door after him. 'We're not going to get any visitors until tomorrow, I think.'

'You think?' I asked.

'They'll want to give us a chance to get settled in,' he said, moving into the living room where the TV was still in its box, and the couch and arm chairs were still in their plastic wrappings. 'And then the vultures will descend.'

'Very poetic,' I remarked dryly.

'I won a poetry writing competition once,' he said. I knew that he'd say something like that.

'Of course you did,' I replied.

'Third grade. I won a pen.'

I smirked and said nothing.

'Hey, give me a hand with this will you?' he asked, motioning to the television in its box.

I nodded. 'Sure.' I took a knife out of my pocket and made quick work of the box.

He stared at me, and I swear I saw his pupils dilate. 'How many more of those do you have on your person?'

I looked at the knife and thought about it for a moment. 'A couple. Hetty wouldn't actually allow me to physically carry a gun.'

'Me too,' he replied. 'Although in these pants, it's probably a blessing.'

'Yeah, I've been wondering, how did you get into those?' I asked.

'With much difficulty.' And with that, he set about taking the flat screen TV out of the box and mounting it on the wall.

I turned around, resisting the temptation to look at his butt, which was very well displayed in those jeans (well done, Hetty) and instead busied myself with de-plasticizing the furniture, beginning in the living room and then moving to the kitchen, where a large dining table and eight chairs resided. Clearly, Hetty expected us to host some dinner parties. Finally, Deeks caught up with me in the bedroom, where I was puzzling over the bed frame, which was in three pieces.

'Which bit goes where?' he finally asked, scratching his head.

'I've got no clue,' I replied, frowning at the bed. It was king-sized; thank God, meaning that even though we had to share the bed, at least we wouldn't be likely to… collide, or something. And considering the tension between Deeks and I, that could very quickly get dangerous.

Yeah, I feel the chemistry between us. I always have, ever since that first meeting in that damn gym. How could I not? It's so thick sometimes, it's like _soup_.

'Wow, king-sized,' Deeks said, looking at the box, and I prepared myself for an inappropriate comment. I wasn't disappointed. 'Plenty of room for night-time activities, huh?' He looked at me lecherously.

'Not likely, there, buddy,' I said, patting his shoulder, before pointing at one of the end bits. 'I think that's the head of the bed. It's taller than the other one.'

Deeks went over and inspected it. 'I think you're right,' he commented. He tried to lift one of the bits and failed spectacularly. 'Ooh! Gees, this thing is solid metal. You wanna lend a hand, partner?'

'Sure,' I said, taking hold of the other end. 'Where's it going?'

'Well, do you want to face the door, or the window?' he asked.

I thought about it for a moment. 'Door. Definitely door.'

'You really think that it's likely that someone could figure out our real identities?' he asked.

'I don't think it's too likely, but I'd like to be on the safe side anyway,' I said.

He nodded. 'Good idea.'

We finally figured out the bed frame, and the bedroom was set up surprisingly quickly. I hauled my suitcase up into the bedroom and began putting clothing in the bureau.

I tensed as I felt Deeks by my right shoulder, but kept unpacking, shoving different items of clothing in different drawers.

'Yikes,' he breathed, reaching out and snatching a short, lacy negligée out of my grasp. 'You plan on modelling this for me?'

I looked over my shoulder and sent a teasing smile his way. 'If you're good…'

He gulped and gave it back before leaving the room, and I realised that if I _did_ wear it, I should make sure he wasn't wearing those jeans… there could be some serious damage done there.

I quickly finished unpacking, and went down to find out what my partner had decided to do to distract himself.

And then I heard a splash.

…

**Ooh… what's Deeks done?**

**Review, review, review…**

**A/N: Okay, so I probably could've put more emphasis on the kiss, but I keep thinking that Kensi and Deeks are professionals; they wouldn't be **_**too**_** hung up on it…**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Kensi

'D- Marty!' I shrieked, sprinting out into the back garden, where I was greeted by the sight of a soaking wet Deeks climbing out of the swimming pool. 'What happened?' I demanded, sincerely glad that he hadn't come to grief.

'I wanted to see how deep it was,' he said sheepishly, shaking his head, droplets of water flying everywhere.

'And you couldn't have waited to put on a swimsuit to do that?' I asked sceptically.

'Um… no?'

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

'In my defence, I was just _looking_. I didn't mean to go in, I just… fell.'

'Well, go in and change out of those wet clothes before those jeans start shrinking on you.'

Deeks' eyes widened almost comically, and I felt kind of sorry for baiting him. Until he stripped them off.

And then _my_ eyes widened.

The pool gate squeaked and startled us both, but we weren't half as startled as the person who had just entered.

Thank God it was only Hetty.

'I can… I can come back if I'm interrupting something,' she said quickly.

'N-no,' I stammered. 'He fell in the pool.'

'And then his pants fell off?' Hetty asked, eyebrows rising.

'No, no,' Deeks assured her. 'Those things were so tight, I had trouble pulling them off. I was just making sure that they didn't shrink on me. I didn't really want damage to… valuable assets.'

I snorted. Nothing else was really required to be said.

'Hey!' he exclaimed. 'As my wife, you really ought to have a vested interest in said assets.'

Hetty laughed softly. 'Mr Deeks, I think you should go inside and get dried off before you catch a cold.'

Deeks nodded, and shook his head again. 'Okay.' He picked up his discarded jeans and went into the house.

'If you drip water everywhere, I'm going to be pissed!' I called after him.

He waved a carefree hand. 'Yeah, yeah.'

'You seem to be adapting well,' Hetty observed, and I finally noticed that she carried a large paper bag.

'Yeah. Let me get that for you,' I said, bending down and taking it. I sniffed. 'This smells great.'

'The best Chinese in the city,' she said. 'I thought you'd probably be too busy to cook.'

'You're very right,' I replied. 'We haven't had a chance to set up the study yet, and that's the bit that we need.' I put the bag on the table, and took a seat.

'Eric will be paying you a visit tomorrow morning,' Hetty told me, also taking a seat.

'Yeah, speaking of visits,' Deeks said, coming into the room in clean clothes and rubbing his hair dry with a towel. 'Callen said that you were coming _tomorrow_.'

'Mr Callen was misinformed,' Hetty said. 'Chicken and cashew nuts?' she asked, holding out a take-out box.

Deeks squinted suspiciously at her. 'My favourite.'

Hetty smiled. 'I know. Miss Blye.' She handed me another box, and I peeked curiously inside.

'This is my favourite, too,' I said.

Hetty chuckled, bringing out a last box for herself and handing around bottles of beer. 'I figured you'd appreciate some food.'

Deeks started to eat with his chopsticks. 'Oh, wow. This is so good.'

'Yes, well, you have to keep your strength up,' Hetty said, smiling. 'This is going to last a month.'

'So, you've confirmed the schedule?' I asked, my mouth half full.

'Yes, but next time you decide to speak, can you _please_ swallow first?' she asked.

I blushed sheepishly. 'Sorry.'

'So, if Eric's coming tomorrow morning, does that mean that I don't have to set the computer up tonight?' Deeks asked hopefully.

'Of course not, Mr Deeks,' Hetty said immediately. 'You have to get the surveillance cameras and microphones up as soon as possible, i.e. tonight.'

Deeks sighed and sent me a sideways look. 'Worth a try.'

We finished our dinner with pleasant conversation, and after a quick tour around the house, Hetty left with a smile and a wish that we'd be careful, _especially_ around the pool.

Deeks checked his watch. 'I'd better get the computer set up, then,' he said, sighing. 'Eric will be coming to set up the Wi-Fi tomorrow, but he gave me a dongle that will do for now.'

'Yup. I'll finish setting up the bedroom and then I'll clean up,' I said, before escaping before he could make a remark that included the words "me", "you" and "bedroom" like I knew that he would.

'You, cleaning up?' he asked, his voice following me through the house. 'You're making me laugh!'

His laugh echoed through the house, but I ignored it and went up to the bedroom, where I made the bed and put the rest of my things away. I debated putting his things away as well, as a good wife should, but in the end decided against it, unsure as to whether I wanted to know what he'd packed. Or, rather, what Hetty had packed for him.

Instead, I went down to the kitchen/dining room/living room adjoined area and threw out the empty take-out cartons and beer bottles.

'Hey, Kensi?' Deeks' voice came through the house, followed by a loud clunk and a grunt of pain.

I shot up the stairs and into the study, where Deeks sat with a box on his head and a large computer monitor in his lap.

'Ow,' he said. He turned his head blindly in my direction. 'Kens? Is that you?'

'Yeah.'

'You mind giving me a hand?' he asked.

'I don't know. I kind of like you like this.'

'You like me? You really like me?' I could _see_ the puppy dog eyes.

'Stop making that face.'

The box tilted up. 'What-? You can't see my face! Okay, Kens, please?'

I sighed. 'Since you said please.' I stepped forwards and lifted the box off of his head.

'Thanks,' he said.

'Did you need something?' I asked.

'Yeah… Can you lift that red cord so that I can put this down?' he asked, nodding to the desk where the majority of the computer had been set up.

'Sure,' I said, moving a whole tangled mess of cords out of the way.

'Thanks.' He fiddled around with the back of the monitor and suddenly, everything whirred to life.

'It's on,' I said.

'Uh huh,' he said, plugging in two thumb drives. Suddenly, Eric's face popped up on screen.

'Oh, look,' he said to someone off screen, pointing at us. 'It's our favourite newlyweds.'

Nell's face appeared as well, and she was beaming. 'Hi, guys. How are you enjoying newly wedded bliss?'

Deeks opened his mouth, most likely to say something inappropriate, so I stuck the box back on his head. 'Hey!'

'I like it better like this,' I said, nodding at him.

'She's kinky,' Deeks said.

I rolled my eyes and whacked the box where the back of his head would be.

'Ow!' he yelped.

'So, Hetty says you're gonna pop by tomorrow morning?' I asked.

'Both of us,' Nell said, cutting Eric off. I let out a small smile at the observation.

'But I see you got the most important part done,' Eric said. 'I'm sending the computer a heap of programs that you'll need.'

Suddenly, the computer beeped and signalled the start of a large download.

'This will take some time, won't it?' Deeks asked, tilting the box up so that he could see the screen.

'All night,' Eric nodded. 'I suggest you just leave it. There shouldn't be any problems.'

Deeks paused and then nodded. 'Alright. I don't know about you, wife-y dear, but I'm exhausted.'

'Deeks, I am _begging_ you, please don't call me that,' I replied.

Nell laughed at us. 'Good night, guys.'

'Night, Nell, Eric,' Deeks said.

'Night, guys,' I said, and with a nod, Eric turned off the camera.

He stretched back and sighed, looking at me upside-down. The box fell off of his head. 'Well, I think I'll hit the hay.'

'That sounds like a good idea,' I agreed, before sighing. 'We have to share the bed, don't we?' I wasn't looking forward to the prospect.

Deeks dipped his head in a nod. 'Uh huh. You can't wait, can you?'

I rolled my eyes. 'Deeks, please don't make this harder than it should be.'

'_You're_ making this harder than it should be,' he shot back. 'You really should get in the habit of calling me Marty.'

'Fine. I'm going to take a shower, _Marty_.'

'Is that an invitation for me to join you?' he asked, returning to an upright position and grinning lecherously at me.

'No,' I said. 'You even _mention_ coming into that bathroom while I'm in there, and I _will_ kill you.'

His laugh followed me through the house. 'Message received sweet cheeks.'

…

I stepped out of the bathroom, and Deeks' jaw dropped. He promptly abandoned his phone, and a bird on the screen consequently flew completely off course, and didn't hit a single pig.

'You can look, but you can't touch,' I warned him before going out of the room, wrapping my rather inefficient negligée around myself.

'I ought to be telling _you_ that,' he called.

'You touch, I'll break your fingers!' I called back.

'I know,' he replied, and the bathroom door clicked shut.

Barefoot, I padded down to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of milk which I carried to the window seat and began to sip.

I watched lights flick on and off in the house across the street, the house belonging to the Lieutenant. Silhouettes of a man and woman appeared periodically in the windows, sometimes walking carrying a bundle of blankets in their arms, sometimes heading tiredly back to the room that I assumed was their bedroom.

'Exciting people watching?' Deeks' voice came from behind me, and suddenly, warm arms were snaking around me.

'Deeks, personal space,' I reminded him.

'We're married,' he murmured in my ear. 'There is no such thing as personal space.'

I tried to stifle a yawn, but he felt it, being so close to me that my back was flush against his chest.

'Come on,' he said, taking my glass from me and heading into the kitchen to wash it up. 'Time to go to bed. You're exhausted.'

'Deeks,' I tried to object, but he interrupted me.

'Kens, I know you're exhausted because _I'm_ exhausted.' He returned to the window seat and helped me up from it. He nodded to the lieutenant's house. 'They've hit the hay for the moment, I think it'll be okay for us to do that too.'

Suddenly very sleepy, I nodded and followed him up the stairs and into the bedroom.

'Left or right?' he asked.

I yawned widely. 'I don't care.'

'Okay. You can have the right.'

I nodded drowsily and crawled under the covers, curling up on my right side facing away from him.

Deeks turned off the last remaining light, his bedside lamp, and lay down next to me. Despite the mile of space between us and the pillow that he'd rather respectfully (and out of character) laid between us, I could still feel the heat radiating from him.

'Night, Kens,' he said, yawning.

'Night, Marty,' I replied, and drifted off to sleep.

…

The first thing I realised when I woke up was that the bed was empty, and Deeks' side was cold. The next thing I realised was that someone was watching me.

'Morning, sleepy head,' Deeks said, and I turned my head to see him leaning against the adjoining bathroom's doorframe, hair slightly damp.

'Morning,' I managed, rubbing sleepy eyes. 'How long have you been up?'

'Since five,' Deeks said casually. 'I usually get up then to go surfing, but I figured not today, so I went for a swim in the pool instead. The water was beautiful.'

I tried to wipe the images of Deeks in his swimming trunks swimming up and down the swimming pool in the backyard, and was somewhat successful. I let out a sigh and flopped back down onto the bed. 'What time is it?'

'Almost eight,' he said casually, checking the watch on his left arm. 'You know, it's weird. I could've sworn I packed my usual watch, but when I looked for it this morning, all I found was this Rolex. Hetty must've meddled with my things.'

'Hetty meddles with everything,' I replied, sitting up and swinging my legs over so that my feet hit the floor. I yawned again.

'Hungry?' Deeks asked.

I nodded. 'Yeah.'

'Alright then. You get dressed, and I'll make breakfast,' he said.

'You cook?' I asked, my stomach growling at the thought of breakfast.

'Uh huh.' He grabbed my hands and pulled me into a standing position. 'Come on, up.'

I grumbled under my breath, but started to gather up clothing from the wardrobe, noticing that Deeks had organised his things as well.

'Breakfast will be ready in half an hour, okay?' he asked, starting for the door.

'Yup,' I said, heading into the bathroom. I closed the door and sighed. This was going to be a _long_ assignment.

You might think that I haven't noticed that my partner is very, very, very attractive. Well, think again. I have. He's not my usual type, to be sure, but he is very good looking. I usually go for dark and clean-shaven, not blonde and shaggy, but the slightly wild, unkempt look somehow suits him. Of course, clean shaven and properly styled, Deeks also looks hot as hell, but it isn't _him._ In my mind, it's the lawyer version of him, and I don't like that man. It's not that I've got anything against lawyers (on the contrary, the lawyers that I date always take me to the nicest places), it's just that I'm against the thought of my Deeks as a lawyer. The visual just doesn't work.

So even though we tease, and prod, and poke, on my side at least, it's only half hearted. I don't think I'd like decently styled Deeks half as much as I like Shaggy. But I make sure to not tell him that. He's bad enough with giving him a big head.

Deeks is sweet and charismatic and charming, and a woman would have to be blind to not find him visually attractive, and in any other circumstances, I'd have most likely jumped him by now (painful to admit, but true), and I'm awfully lucky to have him as my partner, but I can't give into the temptation of letting him be something else. Because even though he flirts and teases and does the sweetest things whenever he thinks I need them, I can't let myself think that he _cares_. He's like this with most women (almost all, actually, with the exceptions of Hetty and his own mother), and I can't let myself think that I'm special to him. Because I'm not. To him, I'm just another random woman who's waltzed into his life. He never has lasting relationships. Neither do I, but that's for a completely different reason. He's a player.

Which is why I don't trust him with my heart.

But he's an awfully good friend, and partner. And if I can just keep him in those categories, we'll make it out of this just fine.

But a month in close contact with him at all times? My resolve _will_ be tested.

I got out of the shower and struggled into one of the many sundresses that Hetty had packed for me, this one being white featuring yellow and pink-orange frangipanis. I never would've picked this for myself, but Hetty obviously believed that it was something that Kensi Johnson would have picked.

I sighed and stepped out of the bathroom, and as I did, I heard the doorbell ring. I frowned and checked the clock on the wall. A quarter past eight. A little early for the new neighbours to start visiting, so who could it be?

'Wow,' Nell's voice floated up. 'The place looks great.'

'Kensi will be down in a minute,' Deeks said, closing the front door with a click. 'You guys want breakfast?'

The smell of bacon floated up to greet me, and my stomach growled noisily.

'Sure,' Eric said.

I hurried down the stairs and stepped into the kitchen, where Nell, Eric and Deeks were sitting around the table.

'Hey, Kensi,' Nell greeted with a smile.

'Hey, guys,' I replied, smiling at them both and joining them at the table. 'How's it going?'

'It's really quiet around Ops without you guys,' Eric said. 'Callen and Sam don't bicker half as loud as you guys.'

'And their topics aren't half as amusing either,' Nell added in. 'You look great, by the way.'

I sighed. 'I hate wearing dresses on ops. They always end up ruined.'

'Not on this op,' Deeks said brightly, getting up to tend to the food.

'You don't hope so, anyway,' I said darkly.

'Yeah, well, dig in,' he said, placing four heavily loaded plates on the table.

I took one look at it and did so. 'I'm gonna be fat by the end of this op, Deeks,' I warned him.

'That wouldn't be good, considering that you're a personal trainer,' he said lightly. 'Oh, well. We'll just say that you're pregnant.'

I choked on a mouthful of eggs. 'Excuse me?' I asked after I was done choking, and Nell was done patting me on the back.

'Well, we're newlyweds. It's common knowledge that newlyweds are very… sexually active,' Deeks said, grinning at me.

'Are you two always like this?' Eric asked curiously.

'Yes,' Deeks said at the exact same time that I said 'No.'

Eric and Nell exchanged a smile.

After we all finished eating, Eric and Nell stood up. 'I'll start setting up cameras,' Eric announced.

'I'll help you,' Deeks offered.

'I'll start on the computer, then,' Nell said. 'Kensi, I think you could help me with that.'

Now, I'm only a little above average when it comes to doing computer stuff. So what Nell meant when she said that she needed my help was that she wanted to gossip. And who was I to deny her?

…

**And I'm afraid you'll have to wait awhile to find out what they were talking about. **

**Review, please.**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Deeks

'Can you pass me the screwdriver?' Eric asked me.

I nodded and passed the red-handled piece of equipment up to him where he was perched on the ladder. 'No sonic screwdriver?' I joked, knowing Eric's affinity for Doctor Who.

'Not yet,' Eric replied, grinning down at me as he finished fixing our "security camera" to the front of the house. It looked like it was pointed at the front door and driveway, but it was actually pointed at the house across the street. 'I'll set up the laser microphone up on the roof, attach it to your television antenna. And the infrared camera can go inside.'

'Okay,' I said, before quipping, 'Make sure it's not pointed inwards. Kensi's a total Nazi on her own personal privacy.'

Eric chuckled. 'How's it going, with you two?'

'What does it mean when you wake up with her lying half on top of you?' I asked.

'Seriously?' Eric asked, climbing down the ladder.

'Seriously,' I confirmed. 'I usually wake up at five to go surfing, and I woke up this morning and she was treating me like a teddy bear.'

Eric thought for a moment. 'I don't know. You'd have to ask Nell. What did Kensi say?'

'About what?' I asked absently, playing with a spanner.

'About her waking up on you,' Eric said.

'Nothing. I got up and she just rolled over.'

'You mean you didn't wake her up?'

'Eric, have you ever woken up Kensi before?'

Eric shook his head. 'No.'

'You don't want to,' I replied. 'She gets all mad, and threatens to kill you. And then she usually punches me, but I think that's just me.'

'She punches you for anything,' Eric pointed out.

'So it's probably just me,' I said.

Eric laughed softly. 'Wasn't it awkward?'

'Wasn't what awkward?' I asked.

'Wasn't it awkward, sharing a bed?' he questioned.

I thought about it for a moment. 'A little, I think,' I said. 'I, personally, was so exhausted that I didn't really care.'

'You were that tired?' Eric asked.

'You see how we've got all that stuff in there all set up?' I asked. 'We did all that. And then I fell in the pool, and then we had a surprise visit from Hetty.'

'You fell in the pool?' Eric asked, picking up the stepladder he'd been using and going into the house. 'How the hell did that happen?'

'I was just trying to see how deep it was, and I just… fell in.'

'What did Kensi say to that?'

'She yelled at me, like usual. Thought I'd done something stupid.'

'You _did_ do something stupid,' Kensi said, suddenly appearing at the top of the staircase. 'You _fell_ into the pool. I was worried that you'd-' She suddenly closed her mouth, and let out a heavy sigh. 'Coffee, Eric?'

Eric nodded. 'Thanks.'

'Uh huh.' Kensi quickly stepped down the stairs and went into the kitchen.

I let out a frustrated sigh, and ran my fingers through my hair.

'You alright?' Eric asked me, leaning the ladder against the wall.

'I don't generally understand her,' I said slowly.

Eric laughed at me before patting me on the shoulder and passing into the kitchen.

I followed him in and took a seat at the table where Kensi immediately plonked a mug in front of me.

I blinked at it. I could just tell by looking at it that it was perfect. 'Thanks,' I said slowly before picking it up and taking a small sip. It _was_ perfect.

Nell had her hands wrapped around a mug that had a tea bag tag hanging out of the rim. 'Hetty stocked the kitchen, didn't she?' she asked. 'This tea is the best.'

'Hetty must be anticipating a few visits,' I said.

'Yeah, well, speaking of visits, we better end ours after Eric finishes setting up the laser microphone,' Nell said. 'I already set up the infrared camera in the study.'

'Cool. I don't suppose you guys want to help with the getting on the roof bit?' Eric asked.

'I'll help,' Kensi offered.

'Alright, then,' Eric said, grinning at her. 'Come on, then.'

'Yup,' she replied, gulping down the last of her piping hot coffee without a wince.

'Dial nine and one, and wait for the loud yell of pain to dial the last one,' Eric advised us. 'That's what I usually do when you guys go on ops.'

I looked at Nell, who took a sip of her tea. 'Is that true?' I asked.

She nodded. 'Yeah. I remember the first op that I saw you guys on, and the moment you guys left the building, he dialled nine and one and instructed that no-one was to use that phone.'

I chuckled. 'Well, everyone needs their rituals, and I s'pose that that one is better than most. Reminds me of when I was younger, and before practising the violin I insisted on standing on my head for a full minute. I got quite good at it.'

'Standing on your head, or playing the violin?' Nell asked with a small smile.

'Both, actually, though at that moment I was only thinking about the standing on my head bit,' I said thoughtfully.

'Can you still stand on your head?' Nell asked.

I thought about it for a moment. 'Um, I dunno. I haven't played the violin for a while, which means I haven't had cause to stand on my head.'

'Maybe you should start playing the violin again?' Nell suggested softly.

I thought about it for a moment. 'Maybe,' I said, slightly unsurely.

'When did you start?' she asked with a soft, encouraging smile.

'I got the violin for my birthday when I was five,' I said. 'I wanted a guitar.'

Nell laughed, but she was laughing _with_ me, not _at_ me. 'Were you any good?'

'Yeah, actually,' I said. 'I was really good. I got my scholarship to law school because of that violin.'

'What happened?' Nell asked.

'What do you mean?' I asked.

'Why don't you play anymore?'

'I still play guitar, and the ukulele.'

'The ukulele?' Nell asked with a completely straight face.

'The ukulele,' I replied. 'I don't play the violin anymore because it takes so much _time_. It's two hours practise every day if I want to stay halfway decent, and that's two hours I don't have.'

'Maybe you should make time,' Nell suggested.

'Maybe I should,' I agreed. 'But not now. We're on assignment.'

'But that's even better,' Nell said with a smile. 'You've got so much time, and so little to do with it. Why not try and get back into practise?'

I sighed. 'Kensi doesn't know that I play. Well, she does, but… She'll make fun of me.'

Nell sighed a little and smiled, shaking her head at me. 'Deeks, she won't. You know that she's had me dig into your files, right?'

I frowned. 'No.'

'She knows a lot more about you than she lets on, and she cares a lot more than she lets on. Go get your violin. I think you'll be surprised.'

I smiled at her. 'Let's go check on Kensi and Eric.'

She smiled and shook her head. 'That's the most obvious subject change in the history of the subject change.'

'But you'll accept it?' I asked hopefully, finishing the last of my coffee.

'You owe me a song,' Nell replied.

'And I will pay up, eventually,' I said before leading the way outside.

'Finished,' Eric announced jubilantly when he spotted us standing on the lawn.

'Wow,' Nell commented. 'That was quick.'

'Quick fix,' Kensi said, wiping her hands on the skirt of her dress.

'Hey, I have to wash that,' I pointed out, frowning at the resulting grease stains on the white dress.

'Oops,' she said, looking down at it. 'Sorry. But you still _do_ owe me that month of laundry.'

'Well, this should make it easier, shouldn't it?' I asked.

'I feel like I'm missing something,' Eric said.

'You're not the only one,' Nell replied. 'Well, I guess we better go, and leave you guys to deal with your neighbours.'

Kensi sighed. 'I guess I better go change, right?'

'It'd be a good idea,' I said.

She sighed. 'Okay. Bye, Nell, Eric. Thanks for your help.'

'Bye, guys,' Nell said, getting into the driver's seat of her Mini.

'See you soon!' Eric called from the passenger side window before Nell pulled out of the driveway and was soon out of sight.

'I'd better go change,' Kensi said, looking down at herself. 'I've got muck all over this dress.'

'And you'd better do it fast,' I advised her. 'I can almost _see_ the vultures descending.'

Kensi gave me a small smile and left.

My heart skipped a beat. I'm not kidding. In my opinion, the entire world should stop and savour the moment when Kensi smiles. Even a small smile like the one she just gave me. She just lights up the room, no matter where she is.

It's not just her smile, though. It's the whole package, honestly. It starts at the smile, and then her totally unique eyes light up, and her soft, lightly tanned skin glows and then I just fall a little bit deeper in love.

Yes, love. That silly little, pesky emotion that always crops up when you least want it to. And it's entirely unwelcome when it comes to my thing with Kensi.

It's hard enough to deal with the lust but love? Love is an entirely different game. It's like I was playing tennis, and then someone came in and switched the ball for a shuttlecock and told me to play badminton.

Actually, that's what it's like with Kensi just in general. You think you've singing one song, and then she changes the lyrics on you. It's still the same song, but you're singing different words. And you're very lucky if they're still in the same language. And if I'm very, very lucky, it's in a language I know.

But even when she does these things to me, I can't help but fall deeper in love with her. It's like a disease – it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse and worse and I can't do a thing to stop it. I'm gonna have to do something drastic, one of these days.

And when I do, well, let's just say even _I_ don't know what it will be.

But I'll probably kiss her. And that will most likely earn me a kick. To the nuts. But it'd be worth it, I know.

Because the first time I kissed her, yesterday, she took my breath away. And I had to fight very, very hard to stop myself from sweeping her off of her feet and carrying her into the bedroom… where, at that point, there was no bed, so that kind of makes that plan redundant. But now…

My musings were interrupted by a vulture sighting. Well, actually, they didn't look that bad. The woman was dressed in jeans and a sort of ruffle-y shirt thing and a man accompanied her dressed in similar apparel, and he carried a large basket. I inwardly sighed before going forward to greet them. 'Hi,' I said, smiling. 'I'm Marty Johnson.'

'Hi,' the woman said, all smiles. 'I'm Ella Erickson, and this is my husband, Aaron.'

'Nice to meet you,' I said, offering my hand first to her and then to him. They both shook my hand, he after some juggling of the basket, and then I asked them to come inside. Safely inside the house, I called up the stairs, 'Kensi! Honey? We've got visitors!'

There was a thud and an oof. 'Yup!'

'You good?' I asked.

'I'm fine,' she said, a hint of panic in her tone, but only enough for me to pick it up.

'In there,' I said, pointing into the living room.

'It looks lovely in here,' Ella said. 'A lot brighter than it used to be.'

'My aunt helped us decorate. She's got great taste.'

Aaron put the basket down on the coffee table. 'My wife thought that you might like a sort of welcome package,' he said with a small smile.

'It's just a few leaflets and the such. A few take-out menus,' Ella said. 'Just a few little things.'

'Thank you,' I said, feeling surprised. I didn't think that we'd get this sort of welcome, but Kensi would welcome the take-out menus. 'Would you like something to drink?'

'Oh, no,' Ella said with a smile. She picked up the picture of Kensi and I in our wedding clothes on the beach, looking into each other's eyes. 'This is a sweet photo. How long have you been married?'

'Not very long at all,' I said, thinking back to yesterday, when this had all just been dumped on us.

'Just a couple of weeks,' Kensi said, coming in and perching on the couch next to me. 'I'm Kensi.'

'Ella, and Aaron,' Ella told her, shaking Kensi's offered hand.

'Nice to meet you,' Kensi said as Aaron shook her hand.

'Where did you go on your honeymoon?' Ella asked, watching us carefully.

'Australia,' Kensi said, and I, thankfully, was a decent enough actor to cover my surprise. She _knew_ how much I wanted to go to Australia – the place is surrounded by beach and the surf is _awesome_, but why did she choose it? And then I saw the reason. In fact, she picked it up.

It was another picture of she and I, photo-shopped this time. It was of Kensi and I standing in front of Uluru, the giant rock in the middle of Australia. Now, I'm pretty damn sure that I've never been to Australia, and I _know_ that Kensi definitely wasn't there if I was. Eric was good. He was very good.

'Marty is a surfer,' she continued.

'Really?' Aaron asked, looking surprised. 'I'm a surfer. Actually, a group of us head down to the beach every morning and hit the waves together. Maybe you wanna join us some time?'

'Sure,' I said. And then I remembered why I had my arm around Kensi. 'But, um, maybe not too soon.' I smiling lovingly at Kensi, and damn if that light blush creeping up her neck wasn't sexy as hell.

'Oh, you guys are so sweet,' Ella gushed. 'I remember when we were newlyweds.'

'How long have you been married?' Kensi asked.

'Just over a year,' Aaron informed us as Ella began cooing over our other wedding picture, the one with everyone in it.

'You look so beautiful,' Ella said to Kensi.

Kensi blushed slightly. 'The dress was just… It felt perfect the moment I put it on.'

I reflected back to the moment when I first saw her in it, in the cramped wardrobe. 'It looked perfect on you,' I said, meaning every word.

'Aw,' Ella cooed. 'You guys are so cute.'

'Anyway, we've got a doctor's appointment in about an hour, so we better go,' Aaron said, checking his watch.

'It was very nice to meet you. Maybe soon we could have dinner?' Kensi suggested hesitantly, shrugging herself out of my grasp as she rose to shake their hands once again. I followed her lead.

'That would be lovely,' Ella said. 'We'll see you soon, then,' she continued before shepherding her husband out of the house.

'Well,' Kensi said the moment the front door closed. 'They were nice.'

'They were,' I agreed.

'Lunch?' she asked after a long pause.

'Lunch,' I agreed. 'I give it an hour until the next ones come knocking.'

'An hour? I give it half an hour,' Kensi said.

'Ten bucks?' I asked.

She grinned impishly. 'Deal.'

…

**And let the chaos begin.**

**Am extremely happy today! Got a new ukulele and it is AWESOME! So I'm treating you all to a double update – so review and then press that "next" button!**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Kensi

The doorbell rang exactly forty-five minutes after we made the wager. Deeks and I exchanged a look. 'No-one wins,' I finally said.

Deeks nodded. 'Deal.'

I went to get the door while he finished cleaning up. 'Hello?' I asked, opening the door.

'Hi.' Standing before me was Lieutenant David Paulson, his wife and daughter. 'Is this a bad time?' he asked hesitantly.

'Oh, not at all,' I said, opening the door wider and letting them in. 'Oh, my God, she is the sweetest baby.'

'Thank you,' his wife said, smiling at me. 'Oh, I'm Emily, and this is David, and this is Jessica.'

'Oh, well, I'm Kensi.' I jumped as I felt Deeks' arm snake around my waist.

'And I'm Marty,' I heard Deeks said over my head. 'It's nice to meet you.' I could _feel_ him smiling at Emily.

I could see the dark, sleepless rings around David and Emily's eyes. 'Coffee?' I offered.

'Yes, please,' Emily said gratefully as Deeks showed them into the living room.

'Aw,' I heard Deeks coo as I started making coffee. 'She's adorable. Jessica, did you say?'

'Yes,' David said.

'How old?' Deeks asked.

'Five months,' Emily said, stifling a yawn. 'Have you got any children?' she asked.

'No, no, not us, not yet,' Deeks replied. 'I hope one day we might, but for now we're just happy to have each other.'

'What do you mean by that?' David asked, but before Deeks could reply, the doorbell rang again.

'Honey? Are you expecting visitors?' Deeks called.

'No,' I said, looking out of the window. Sam's Challenger was in the driveway. They must've seen David and his family on the surveillance camera and had come to give some support. I looked at the coffee machine and automatically decided that I was going to need more coffee. 'Can you get it?'

'Sure. Give me a moment, will you?' Deeks asked David and Emily, and I could _see_ him smiling apologetically at them. I heard the front door open. 'Hey, guys!' he exclaimed. 'Princess, it's Callen and Sam!'

I gritted my teeth. Callen and Sam would never let me live that one down. 'Give me a moment,' I said.

'Sure,' he replied, before ushering Callen and Sam into the living room. 'Callen, Sam, this is David, and Emily, and their daughter Jessica.'

There were resultant greetings and cooing over the baby, and when I walked back into the living room with a tray of coffee everyone was seated and looking happy.

'Hi, Callen, Sam,' I said, kissing each of them on the cheek as if we were old friends. Which we were… if you thought about it in a sort of abstract way.

'Kensi,' they each said in greeting before taking a coffee each. I passed one to David, and another to Emily.

'Thank you,' she said gratefully, cupping her hands around the mug. 'We're a little sleep-deprived at the moment – she's teething.'

Sam winced in empathy. 'My sympathies,' he said. 'I've got kids – they're a bit older than yours, though.'

Deeks and I exchanged a look, but we managed to change it from surprised to loving as I settled down next to him on the couch.

'You're a father?' Emily asked.

Sam got his phone out and flicked to a picture of two girls, about eight and ten years of age. 'My girls,' he said, smiling. 'I took that last week.'

'They're beautiful,' Emily said, and David nodded in agreement.

Sam passed the phone to Deeks and I as if it were natural, and I managed to give a 'They're getting so big' with a straight face. I'd never seen his children before, barely had known that he had a family, and this revelation was interesting. Maybe there was something about children that made Sam soften. I resolved to show him the picture of my baby nephew that my brother had sent me when this mission was over and see the result.

'You were saying something earlier,' David said to Deeks. 'Something about being lucky to have each other?'

'Oh, that,' Deeks said, looking a little sad as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

'Hey, we haven't heard that story for _ages_,' Callen said with a little glint in his eye. I could tell that he was trying to test our improvisation skills.

'Marty and I met three years ago,' I said, smiling at him and encouraging him to take the ball and run with it, because my creativity was very quickly running out.

'We met in a gym,' Deeks said with a smile. 'Kensi was, by trade, a personal trainer, until she married me.'

'Marty was a police officer,' I said. 'He'd come in to work out, and one day we just started to talk, and we clicked.'

'We started out as friends, as these two will tell you,' Deeks said, eyeing Sam and Callen.

'Oh, we always thought that these two would end up as something other than friends,' Callen assured them. 'From the start, Kensi was stuck on Marty.'

'Smitten, more like,' Sam added.

'Whatever,' I said quickly, waving a hand to distract them.

David and Emily laughed. 'How long have you four known each other?' Emily asked. 'You seem like really old friends.'

'Oh, trust me, it feels like forever,' Deeks assured her. 'Then again, for the three years that I've known them, it feels like there's been twenty years taken off my life.'

I let my head rest against his firm chest. 'It could've been worse,' I muttered.

David frowned. 'She said that you used to be a cop. You don't strike me as a cop.'

'That's because I _used_ to be a cop,' he stressed. 'I gave it up about a year ago.'

'Oh. I'm sorry,' Emily said. 'Did something happen?'

'If you call being shot "something",' I grumbled, allowing one of my hands to gently grasp his.

'You were shot?' David asked, alarmed.

'Twice,' Sam said, glaring at Deeks. 'In the chest.'

'It was only a small calibre, and for the last time, it wasn't my fault!' he exclaimed.

'Yeah, well, it did have some _good_ repercussions,' I said quietly.

'Like these two finally coming around to their senses,' Sam added.

'And Marty quitting the force,' Callen said.

'I don't blame you, quitting,' David said. 'I'm in the Navy, myself… well, actually, only for two weeks more. I'm on terminal leave.'

'Terminal leave?' Callen asked, doing his best to look blank and succeeding almost worryingly well.

'Leave taken just before leaving the Navy completely,' Sam informed his partner.

David looked at him carefully. 'Navy?'

'SEAL,' Sam completely.

David nodded. 'Intelligence. But I have done tours, and I do know that being shot isn't fun.'

'Yeah, well, it made me think about what's really important, and I kind of concluded that Kensi was more important to me than the job ever would be – I mean, being a cop had its perks and all, and that warm fuzzy feeling of accomplishment, but Kensi made me feel complete.' He turned to me and smiled. 'And then I realised that I loved her.'

'Aw,' Emily cooed. 'You guys are so sweet.'

'It's sickening,' Callen tacked on for good measure.

'Thanks,' I said blandly. 'Just because you can't find your happy ever after.'

'With the girls you keep setting me up with, of course I don't.'

'Then find your own girlfriends,' I shot back playfully.

He grinned at me. 'Maybe I will, Kens. But you just love to set me up.'

'Ignore them,' Deeks said to Emily and David, tightening his arm around me. 'They're often like this.'

'It's totally okay,' Emily assured him. 'We've been stuck with each other and the baby for so long now that adult company, _any_ adult company other than each other is just brilliant. And you guys _are_ adorable.'

'They're impossible, sometimes,' Callen muttered into his coffee mug.

'More coffee, anyone?' I asked brightly.

'Sure,' Emily said gratefully, handing her mug back.

'Yes, please,' Sam said, putting his on the tray.

'Thanks,' Callen said, also replacing his.

David nodded with a smile.

'I'll help you, honey,' Deeks said, giving me a smile and taking the tray from me.

'I'll just pop into the bathroom,' Emily said with a small smile.

'Sure,' I said. 'Do you know where it is?'

'Yeah,' she said, nodding before stepping out of the room.

'Sugar?' Deeks' voice echoed through the house. 'Can I have a hand in here?'

I internally sighed heavily before smiling apologetically at the men sitting in the living room. 'Excuse me, will you?' I went into the kitchen where I kicked Deeks in the ankle. '_Stop_ it,' I hissed.

'Why?' he asked, wide eyes staring at me. 'You know you like it.'

'No, I really don't, so stop.'

He grinned at me. 'You only say that, but you really do love it when I call you pet names, _Fern_.'

'You can't call me that,' I hissed. 'We're undercover, which means you can't call me that.'

'Not when other people are around. But we're alone.'

He couldn't muffle the cry of pain caused by my heel crushing his toes.

Distantly, I heard Sam excuse himself and soon he appeared in the doorway. 'Is everything okay in here?'

'Everything's fine,' I said with a smile. 'Deeks here just stubbed his toe on the cabinet, didn't you, _pumpkin_?'

He frowned. 'You know I hate pumpkin.'

'_Exactly_,' I said.

'She stood on my toes,' he said to Sam.

Sam chuckled. 'That's what happens when you piss off Kensi… Blye, that is.'

'She's not supposed to _be_ Kensi Blye. She's supposed to be Kensi, my wife. My loving, harmless wife?'

'Deeks, according to you I was a personal trainer. You don't think personal trainers can pack a decent punch?'

'They sure can't fight like _you_.'

I tossed my hair over my shoulder. 'I'll take that as a compliment.'

'Thank God,' Deeks said, grinning at Sam. 'I don't think I'd survive it.'

Sam chuckled, watching as Deeks took the tray of coffees from me and with a grin took it into the living room, back to the guests. 'He treating you alright?'

I smiled at his protectiveness. 'He's a perfect gentleman, Sam. He hasn't touched me inappropriately and he hasn't said anything that hasn't been said before.'

'He hasn't tried anything?' Sam asked suspiciously.

'No. Didn't even touch me, last night.'

'How could you tell?' Sam asked sceptically.

'He put a pillow between us before we went to sleep.'

Sam blinked. 'Deeks, being a gentleman?' he asked. 'I can't believe it.'

I patted his arm. 'Believe it.'

The sound of soft conversation filtered in from the living room, and I smiled at Sam.

'Come on. We shouldn't leave Callen and Deeks alone with the targets for too long. They might run for the hills, and that would defeat the point of this whole thing.'

Sam chuckled. 'Alright. I'll accept that really bad subject change. Let's go.'

He followed me out back into the living room where Emily had picked up the photo of Deeks and I in our wedding apparel.

'You look so beautiful,' she cooed, looking up to find me standing there. 'Honestly. Did you have that dress made for you?'

'Actually, Marty's aunt found it for me. She has incredible taste,' I replied.

'You look so great together,' she said. 'Like you were made for each other.'

'We do fit together pretty well,' Deeks said softly, smiling.

Emily put the photo down and picked up the group photo. 'Hey, you guys are in this photo.'

'Callen was my best man,' Deeks said.

'And Sam gave me away,' I continued. 'My dad, um… he, um…' Tears suddenly gathered in my eyes.

I hadn't noticed that Deeks had sat himself down beside me until he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gently let me rest my head against his chest. 'Her dad's no longer with us,' he said softly.

Suddenly, baby Jessica started to cry, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, fists waving weakly in the air.

'Oh,' Emily sighed, putting her coffee cup and the photo down on the table.

'Let me,' Deeks said quickly, and I looked up in surprise.

'If you don't mind,' David said gratefully. He looked as if he were about to fall asleep then and there, he was just that exhausted.

'Not at all.' He quickly scooped up the wailing child and cradled her protectively in his arms, tucking the blanket around her bare feet which were kicking in the cool air. 'She's so tiny,' he said in awe, touching her tiny fingers with one of his. Suddenly quiet, she reached out and grabbed at his finger, finally closing her hand around the tip.

'You're a natural,' Sam said, a touch of surprise in his voice.

'Marty's good with kids,' I informed him. He looked down at me in surprise, and I continued, 'Probably because he never grew up.'

Callen chuckled.

'You and I are gonna be good friends, aren't we, Jess?' Marty cooed at the small child, smiling down at her and bouncing slightly.

'Do you guys think you'll have kids?' Emily asked curiously.

Deeks froze. I froze.

'Oh, my God, I'm sorry. Is that a sensitive topic?' she asked quickly, trying to cover up the awkward moment.

'We just haven't talked about it,' I said jerkily. 'The topic hasn't really come up.'

'If it happens, it happens, right?' Deeks asked more smoothly.

David smiled. 'That's what happened to us. Em just came down stairs one morning and told me that she was pregnant.'

'Well, you guys make a nice kid,' Deeks commented, sitting down next to me on the couch. 'You wanna hold her?' he offered, looking at me.

Callen and Sam looked at me with interest. They both knew that I wasn't particularly maternal.

'Oh, um…'

Deeks didn't take no for an answer. 'Here.' He transferred her from his arms to mine, making sure to brush his bare arm against mine as he did so.

I looked down at the small girl in surprise, not entirely sure what she was doing in my lap. She had huge hazel eyes and a dusting of blonde hair, and was dressed in a cute blue dress and the tiniest blue Converse I'd ever seen. She stared up at me quietly, reaching out with her tiny little hands with their tiny little fingers capped with fingernails that were barely there. She caught a fistful of my hair and tugged gently, gurgling happily.

'She's beautiful,' I said honestly. 'She's got your eyes,' I said in David's direction.

Deeks chuckled. 'Woman always say stuff like that. I personally think that she's her own person.'

'All I hope is that she grows up to be a good person,' Emily said with a smile.

'Oh, I think she will,' I replied, smiling down at her. 'Here, do you want her?'

Emily smiled and took her back. 'I think it's feeding time. We better go.'

'Well, come back any time,' Deeks said, rising with them.

'Nice to meet you,' Sam said, shaking David's hand.

'You too,' David replied, turning to Callen and shaking his hand as well.

'We better go too,' Callen said, checking his phone as it buzzed. 'We'll see you later. Bye Kens, Marty.'

Suddenly, everyone was gone from the house, leaving only Deeks and I.

'Well,' Deeks said before suddenly starting to gather up empty coffee mugs.

'Well,' I repeated before helping him, taking three mugs through to the kitchen, where he started to wash up.

'They're nice,' he said lamely, squirting soap into the sink.

'Nice kid,' I said, just as lamely, picking up a towel and a washed mug.

'You ever, uh, think about having one?' he asked awkwardly, handing me a wet mug. I tried to ignore the feel of his fingers on mine.

I shrugged. 'I… don't know. Maybe.'

'Well, if you ever, I don't know, decide that you want to, um, try, I guess, um, as your _husband_ I could, um, help? With the, uh-'

Suddenly, and thankfully, the phone rang, interrupting my partner's awkward but endearing proposal that he might one day help me have kids – purely with the baby making part, I was sure.

'Um… you wanna get that?' he asked awkwardly, holding up wet hands.

'Sure,' I said quickly, picking up the phone.

'Hey, Kensi,' Nell greeted cheerfully.

'Oh, hey, Nell.' I quickly switched the phone to speaker.

'Hey, Nell!' Deeks greeted exuberantly. 'What's up?'

'Nothing much at the moment,' Nell said. 'I was just wondering if one of you could reboot your computer for me? We've been trying to do it remotely, but it's not working.'

'Sure.' I switched the phone back to normal and went upstairs.

'So, how's it going?' Nell asked as I started to fiddle with the computer.

'Oh, it's going, I guess,' I said.

'And Deeks?'

'The perfect housewife,' I replied, grinning.

'Very funny,' Nell replied.

'No, I'm not kidding. He's currently washing up.'

Nell laughed softly. 'You've got a keeper, Kens.'

'Don't I know it. Alright, it's rebooting.'

'Yup. I've got to go. We'll talk later, 'kay?'

'Sure.'

'Oh, and Kensi?'

'Yeah?'

'Remind Deeks of that thing that he owes me. He'll know what I'm talking about.'

I frowned. 'Okay,' I said slowly.

'I'm not going to tell you what it is, either. Talk to you soon, Kens.'

'Bye Nell.' I hung up and frowned as Deeks entered the room.

'Nell's gone?' he asked.

'Yeah. Told me to remind you of the thing that you owe her?'

He sighed. 'Mini Hetty. Never gives up.'

I laughed. 'What do you owe her?'

'Oh, nothing that concerns you just yet, Princess,' he said lightly.

'Did you finish washing up?' I asked.

'Yup.'

'Okay.' I got up from the chair and sighed before yawning. 'I think I might take a nap.'

'Okay. I think I might go downtown. There're a few things that I forgot to get from my apartment.'

'Okay, then.'

'Have a nice sleep, wife-y dear.' He grinned at me and left, swiping the car keys from beside my hand.

I sighed and shook my head at him before heading to the bedroom with a wide yawn.

…

**Well. We've met the target. They seem quite nice, don't you think? Or is everything as it seems?**

**And we've brought up the Holy Grail of awkward topics for Kensi and Deeks to discuss – babies. Talk about saved by the phone! That topic, however, will come back to haunt us, though. Perhaps during a stint of babysitting for the target? There's nothing like a small child for bringing up feelings.**

**Let me know what you think in a review!**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Deeks

I allowed the front door to click closed behind me and breathed a sigh of relief. I don't know what came over me – offering to make babies with Kensi. Of course, it was probably the thought of making them, ahem, the old-fashioned way.

Yeah, yeah, I know, bad Deeks, don't think that way. You don't think I don't think like that every time she steps out in a revealing dress or a tiny bikini or a short skirt? I'm _very_ good at concealing my thoughts – much better than I was before I came to work with NCIS. Not that I wasn't. It's just that Kensi has this way of making me transparent. Like she can look right through me. And she _definitely_ knows when I'm having less than pure thoughts.

My God, I must be more transparent than I thought. _This_ is the reason that Hetty put me into these damned tight jeans. To stop me from having those less than pure thoughts. Truthfully, they do have a way that makes a man become a little distracted from the job at hand.

I got into the car and sighed before starting it, and jumping at the stereo began to blast techno music at me.

'Kensi,' I sighed, before turning it down and changing it to my favourite rock station. I don't know how she and I work together. We're complete and utter opposites. If I have to be completely honest, she's the alpha male in our partnership, while I just tag along for the rollercoaster ride that she's inevitably leading me on. Sure, we're similar where it counts – we both had pretty screwed up childhoods that honestly sucked; my dad beat me. Hers was murdered. Safe to say, I think we both have daddy issues. And mothers – don't get me started. She hadn't seen hers for fifteen years. Mine still blames me for "ruining" our family. Yeah. Don't ask me how that works. I've given up trying to figure it out. All _I_ did was shoot the guy who was threatening _her_ with a shotgun, and _I'm_ the one that ruined our family? I'm _pretty_ sure I'm the one that saved her life.

I stopped the car outside my apartment and stepped out into the cool sea breeze. I inhaled deeply, allowing the smooth, serene scent to calm me, before locking the car and sticking the keys in my back pocket. I stepped into the lobby and checked my mail. Just a couple of bills – nothing to really worry about. I took the stairs up to my fourth-story apartment and went in, chucking the bills onto the coffee table. The air was stale, but I didn't bother opening the windows to let fresh air in. I wasn't going to be here long. I wasn't supposed to be here at all, but I wasn't about to give Nell free reign to go through my stuff in the guise of looking for my violin. And it was very carefully put away in a corner where prowling house-guests weren't likely to find it.

I opened a cupboard and dug around in it for a while, pulling out movies and books and dusty board games before finally coming to a largish cardboard box at the very back. I pulled it out and sighed, crawling over to the coffee table where I sat the box and reached into my back pocket for my pocket knife, which I used to slice open the duct tape that I'd used to seal the box shut, thinking that I'd never want to see its contents again. Of course, every time I did that, I was soon proved wrong.

I pulled out ream after ream of paper, covered in row after row of staves and clefs and crochets and quavers. I didn't recollect exactly _how_ I'd collected so much sheet music, but finally concluded that I'd simply gathered it over time, buying sundry pieces that I thought maybe one day I might want to learn to play. Finally I found the violin, snugly packed beneath the sheet music. I pulled it out of the box and opened the case, revealing the smooth, dark wood, the raised bridge, the taut strings of the violin. The one piece of my childhood that had made any sense.

Tentatively, I reached out, and took the violin into my hands, suddenly calmed at the feeling of the instrument. I ran my fingers over the strings, as perfect as the day I'd put the violin away, and plucked one, the technique I'd once upon a time called _pizzicato_. It was horribly out of tune, but it still sang out as joyously as it did when I'd last taken the time to play it, which was after I'd finally finished with Max Gentry. I'd played a funeral march, feeling it fitting, and I'd played it… not _badly_, no, I hadn't played like a complete novice, but it was very clear that I wasn't in practise. But it had made me feel better. Just like the time I'd played it after I'd gotten out of hospital after I'd been shot, and mourned the loss of my father. Loss. Or something like that. Just like the time that NCIS saved me from human traffickers, and I found myself betrayed by the one man I thought I could trust. I'd played for Jess that night. It had hurt, both physically and mentally, but I managed to play for her, not a sorrowful song, but a hopeful one – where Jess was, was a much better place than where she'd come from.

My fingers stayed flexible and strong through my guitar playing, and my ear remained in tune and all-hearing. Playing the guitar wasn't quite like playing the violin, but I'd kept at it, mostly because I'd picked it up in one of my foster homes, and it reminded me of better times – sitting with a group of other foster kids and singing nonsense words to numerous different tunes; all at once! Making friends with the "musos" in high school and learning that I wasn't the only one who found music to be a refuge. Sitting around a campfire on a beach with a bunch of other surfers with bottles of beer and hotdogs ready to be eaten by ravenous men who had just expended their energy on the waves.

I looked over to the corner of the room, where the guitar sat on its stand, and considered slightly before shaking my head. No, concealing the violin from Kensi would be bad enough.

I wondered what she would say when she discovered it. Because, of course, I can't keep a secret from her, not even if my life depended on it. So, she probably will.

I sighed and packed up the violin, picking up the portfolio that contained my favourite music and tucking it under my arm. Time to go "home" to my "wife". I shook my head at myself. I gave it a day until she figured me out.

…

I got out of the car and decided to leave the instrument there until I knew the coast was clear. I strolled down the garden path, casually plucking a half-bloomed pink rosebud and admiring it, tentatively bringing it up to my nose and sniffing. It smelled pretty.

I tried the door handle, but it was locked. Frowning, I took out my key and unlocked the door, going in. 'Honey? Kensi, sweetheart, I'm home!'

No answer. Was she still asleep? I thudded upstairs and checked the bedroom. No Kensi. Bathroom. No Kensi.

The answer was by the coffee pot. A bright yellow sticky note was stuck to a mug.

'Went for a jog. Will be back around six. K. xx'

Well, that solved multiple dilemmas. I checked my watch. I had one and a half hours until Kensi came home. That gave me about an hour for practise, and I didn't want to waste a minute. I sat down in the living room and slowly tuned the violin, enjoying the familiar feel of the warm wood and tensile strings. I picked up the bow and slowly drew it across one of the strings, savouring the sound. Immediately, the memories flooded back, years of standing straight-backed in a warm sunlit room, violin tucked snugly beneath my chin, singing its plaintive tune.

I sighed and stood up, straightening my back and feeling my spine click into alignment. I allowed my shoulders to fall back, and I took a moment to breathe before tucking the violin snugly beneath my chin and beginning to play.

…

'I'm home, Marty!' Kensi's voice echoed through the house.

'In the kitchen,' I called back, putting down the knife I was using.

'Something smells really good.' She appeared in the doorway with a smile on her face.

'I'm glad,' I said, smiling back. 'You've got about half an hour, if you want to shower.'

'Sure. Thanks. I found a great route, by the way.'

'Yeah? Maybe you can show me tomorrow morning.'

'Sure. Did you get everything you needed?'

I remembered my excuse for going to my apartment. 'Oh, yeah. And now that you're home, I've got everything I'll ever need.'

She shook her head. 'I'm going to shower.'

'Is that an offer to join you?'

'No.' She grinned at me before turning and leaving.

I shook my head and went back to dicing up the tomatoes for the salad.

…

She came down fifteen minutes later and began to help me by setting the table, smiling at the table, which had a blue tablecloth draped over it, and the small pink rosebud sitting in the middle in a tiny white vase. She smoothed the tablecloth with a small gesture before putting the plates down, followed by knives and forks.

'Wine?' I asked, getting out two long stemmed glasses.

'Uh, sure.' She watched as I poured two glasses of white wine, and took one before hesitantly holding it up. 'To surviving our first day.'

I smiled and tapped her glass with mine. 'To our first day. The first of many.'

'And hopefully, just as uneventful.'

We sipped and smiled at each other.

'Hetty called while you were out. She wants to video-conference at eight.'

I nodded. 'Yup.'

'So, what's for dinner?' she asked with a grin.

'Pizza.'

'Pizza?' she asked.

'Yeah. I thought I'd show you that pizza can be healthy. It's my goal, here, to make you eat healthy for a month.'

She laughed and watched as I brought the pizza out of the oven, placing it down on the table between the rosebud and the salad.

'This is sweet,' she said, touching the delicate flower with a finger.

'Dig in,' I invited, motioning to the pizza.

She picked up a slice of pizza and delicately took a bite before wincing and putting the slice down on her plate before fanning at her mouth. 'Ah! It's hot.'

I laughed softly at her before getting up and getting her a glass of water, which she took gratefully.

'Ow,' she panted.

'It's not like a pizza you order from a shop, Kensi,' I told her gently. 'It's _hot_. Like, straight from the oven, hot.'

'I noticed,' she said, sipping at the water.

I smiled at her and took a bite of salad. She narrowed her eyes at me, but followed suit.

'Wow,' she said suddenly, looking at me with a grin. 'You really can cook. Who would've thunk it, Deeks?'

'Marty,' I reminded her gently. 'And I knew.'

'Yeah, but no-one believed you.'

'Until now.'

'Until now,' she agreed. 'This is amazing.'

'Thanks.'

We finished dinner and she practically glowed in excitement when I brought out desert, a double chocolate cheesecake that I'd bought while out that afternoon.

'You'd be a good husband, Deeks,' she said softly, and he noticed that her hair had dried into tiny, spiralling curls that framed her face.

'I'd glad you think so,' I replied. 'Wait – is that a proposal?'

She grinned puckishly at me. 'Maybe.'

'Am I your back-up husband?'

She shook her head. 'You're my back-up. Full stop.'

I smiled at her. 'I'd be happy to propose again, if you like. You never said yes to my first one, you know. You just put the ring on.'

She laughed at me and fiddled with the rings on her finger. 'You know, this one's a lot simpler than the one that Jack gave me.'

I took a sip of wine to moisten my suddenly dry mouth. 'What did he give you?'

'It was this ridiculously huge diamond – completely unpractical, surrounded by rubies, of all things.' She shook her head. 'I couldn't do much while wearing it. Which, I think now, was the point. I…'

Her voice faltered slightly, and I reached forward, gently brushing her fingers with mine.

'We didn't really know each other, Jack and I. You'd think that we would know each other, being engaged and all, but…' She shook her head. 'I see it now. He meant for me to just be a Marine trophy wife. Stay home. Make babies.'

I shook my head at the thought of my Kensi staying at home with the kids, cleaning and cooking. I couldn't envisage it. My Kensi needed to _do_ things. Like kicking ass.

'I… I couldn't that, Deeks. You know I couldn't.'

'Trust me,' I said slowly. 'I can't picture you doing anything other than kicking ass, _not_ at home.'

She smiled at me, and looked down at our almost joined hands. 'What time is it?' she asked, reaching over and looking at my watch.

'Seven fifty,' I said, watching as she swallowed the last of her wine.

'Come on, then,' she said, patting my hand. 'Time to go talk to Hetty.'

'Yup,' I said, following her out of the kitchen and up to the study, where she logged onto the secure network. Seconds later, Hetty's face popped up on the screen, and I tried to act less startled than I actually was.

'Good evening,' she said softly. A tea cup lay at her right hand.

'Hey, Hetty,' Kensi said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

'You both look well,' she noted, smiling at us.

'Exhausted after a day of greeting neighbours. I met three more while out on my run,' she informed me.

I chuckled. 'Better you than me.'

'Are you completely sure about that?' she asked.

I thought about it for a moment. 'Ooh. You make a good point.'

'So, you've been making nice with the neighbours,' Hetty surmised. 'And the Paulson's?'

'They came to us. They're nice, friendly people. There's not going to be a problem,' Kensi said before yawning widely.

'You look tired, dear,' Hetty said.

'Long day,' she replied.

'Well, don't let me keep you. I just wanted to check in with you and let you know that I'd be joining you tomorrow. Perhaps for afternoon tea.'

'We'll look forward to having you.'

Hetty nodded, and then screen went black.

'I think I might hit the hay,' she said softly.

'I might stay up a little longer. Maybe listen to some music.'

'Okay. Night, Marty.'

'Night, Kens.' I watched her leave the study before logging out of the computer and leaving myself. I waited until I was sure that she was at least in bed before retreating to the living room where I'd stashed my violin in a corner cupboard. I got it out, and not trusting my partner's bat-like hearing, retreated into the garden to practise. I got out the violin and quietly tuned it again before setting up my music stand and placing a familiar Beethoven place on it. Ironically, actually, _Moonlight Sonata._ The full moon was so bright that I could read it quite easily. I positioned the violin snugly beneath my chin and began to play.

…

**Can't you imagine Deeks playing the violin? I can. I can also imagine him making a huge romantic gesture with said violin – for Kensi, of course.**

**Has anyone got any idea as to what music Deeks might play in a great romantic gesture? Suggestions would be wonderful, as my classical music knowledge is limited.**

**Now, the more observant among you will have realised that this is not a single update, nor a double update, but a triple update! So I know that you have two more chapters that you want to get on to, but I would absolutely **_**love**_** it if you reviewed **_**this**_** chapter as well, because this chapter deserves just as much love as the others…**

**And once you've done that – on to the next chapter!**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Kensi

I was woken suddenly – I wasn't exactly sure as to what, exactly, but as I glanced over at the clock to find that it was almost midnight, I heard soft strains of music. Classical music.

I could've sworn that Deeks was a rock music guy.

I also could've sworn that the music was coming from outside.

Sleepily, I got out of bed, wondering if I was still dreaming. But no, the cool night air was definitely real.

I sat down in the window seat and opened the curtains which were moving with the soft breeze. There, in the garden, next to the pool, stood one Marty Deeks in the soft moonlight, and tucked snugly beneath his chin was a violin, from which he coaxed some of the most beautiful music I'd ever heard.

He stood alone, on a grassy stage, with the moon as his spotlight, and played in magnificent solitude, slowly swaying in time with the music.

It was one of the strangest performances she'd ever seen – a messy, golden-haired man wearing a navy t-shirt and worn blue jeans coaxing some of the world's sweetest, saddest, most beautiful music I'd ever heard. In the middle of the night in the backyard, none-the-less. While on an undercover op, too!

Then again, Deeks was no ordinary man. But I already knew that.

Deeks was… strange, sweet, wonderful, utterly maddening at times, and not at all normal. However, I guess I wouldn't have him any other way.

Suddenly, the music stopped, and Deeks was checking his watch, and the spell was broken.

He ran a final hand over his violin before bending down and tucking it away in its case, tucking the bow next to it and packing up the sheet music.

I got up from the window seat and drew the curtains before getting back into bed, my head full of the images that I'd just seen. He'd almost seemed a different person in the garden, playing his heart out to an audience he didn't know he had.

Only a couple of minutes later, he came into the bedroom.

'Kensi? Are you awake?' he asked gently.

I didn't answer, figuring that the best answer was to feign sleep.

He didn't continue, only undressing and crawling tiredly under the covers.

'Good night, Kens,' he whispered, and soon he was fast asleep.

And then, so was I.

…

Again, I was woken suddenly – I checked the clock; it was only a few hours later. And then I heard what had woken me.

Deeks whimpered again from his side of the bed, and when I turned I could see him trembling in his sleep.

'Marty,' I whispered.

He whimpered again, before opening his mouth and screaming in terror.

'Marty!'

He was thrashing around in terror, and I didn't know how he couldn't have woken up by now, but the nightmare had him firmly in its grasp. I leaned over and took him by his shoulders, and shook him firmly.

'Deeks! Wake up.'

His eyes opened, revealing bloodshot blue eyes, and with a shock I realised he'd been crying.

'Kens?' he asked softly, in an almost child-like voice, reaching out and hesitantly touching my arm. He opened his mouth and drew in a shaky breath.

I took his hand in mine, and gently squeezed. 'You're okay. It wasn't real. It was just a dream. You're safe.'

He brought his free hand up to his face and wiped the tears away, sniffing slightly. 'But it was real.'

And with that, he was suddenly up, bare feet hitting the floor with a small thud.

'I need to get some air,' he said, facing away from me.

'I'll come,' I said immediately, getting out of the bed too.

'No, you don't have to, Kens.'

'I _want_ to, Deeks,' I replied firmly, leaving no room for argument. 'And put on a shirt or something. It's cold out tonight.'

He sighed, but pulled on a hoodie before leaving the bedroom. I quickly pulled on the nearest pair of track-pants that I could find, and snatched up one of his t-shirts and pulled it over my head for warmth.

He was already out of the house by this time, and halfway down the garden path, and I ran after him, making sure to pull the front door closed behind me.

'Hey,' I said, catching up with him.

'Beach?' he asked, almost hesitantly.

'This way,' I replied, putting my hand in his and leading him away from the house.

We walked in silence, and then we were on the beach, cool sand beneath our feet, the waves crashing loudly against the shore.

Suddenly, as if he'd found the perfect spot, he sat down, pulling me with him by our joined hands. He seemed to want quiet, so I said nothing, but allowed him to collect his thoughts. I rested my head against his shoulder, and waited for him to start talking.

His hair was mildly damp with sweat, and his hand was slightly clammy and still shaking from the scare that he'd had earlier. His breathing was quick and erratic, and I hoped that he wouldn't start hyperventilating, because in my hurry to get out of the house, I'd forgotten phone, weapon and identification, and I wouldn't have a single way of getting him help.

And then he started to talk.

His voice was husky and low, and the words were almost choked as they came out, as if he was still hesitant in wanting to share with me. But he told me anyway.

Of a boy in a seemingly normal suburban neighbourhood, with a pretty, weak, spineless mother, a wild, vivid, almost glowing little sister and a mean, nasty, almost always drunk father who used to have a capacity for love and happiness, but filled it up with liquor that left him cruel. A boy who played football with his friends, princesses and dragons with his sister, picked posies for his mother, learned the violin, did well at school… was beaten by the man who was supposed to be his loving, caring father.

A boy that one day picked up the .38 that his best friend had given to him to try and save him, and used it to fell the man who was threatening his mother and little sister with a sawn-off shotgun.

'The dreams only happen once in a blue moon,' Deeks finished hoarsely, squeezing my hand. 'I guess that you were just unlucky enough to be there when one struck.'

I opened my mouth to reply, but found that I couldn't speak around the giant lump that had formed in my throat. And then I realised I was crying. No. Not crying. Weeping. Tears had escaped my eyes and seeped down my cheeks, dripping off of my nose into my lap.

Deeks let go of my hand and wrapped his arms around me instead, and I cried for that boy who had suffered so much and yet had managed to become a man so wonderful.

And he cried too.

Finally, he came to his senses, and kissed the top of my head before wiping away the tears on my face with the pads of his thumbs.

'I don't like it when you cry,' he said softly, cupping my face in his hands and examining my tear-swollen eyes by the soft, hopefully kind moonlight. 'It means something's very wrong, and here… this isn't anything to cry about, Kens.'

He sighed heavily and let me go, staring broodily out to sea.

'I'm just…' I realised I still had that lump in my throat, and cleared it before continuing. 'I'm just sorry that a person like you had to go through a childhood like that.'

'Says the woman who ran away from her mother, only to have her father die.'

I recognised the irony that he was pointing out, and sighed.

'Come on,' he said getting to his feet and offering me a hand. 'We better get back. Hetty would get offended if we fell asleep while she's trying to brief us.'

'Yup,' I replied, letting him pull me up.

We wandered back to the house, where Deeks tried the front door, only to pause.

'Uh oh,' he said slowly. 'Do you have a key?'

I shook my head. 'No.'

'Neither do I.'

We exchanged a long glance before looking at the door, most likely with matching disgruntled expressions.

'So what do we do?' I finally asked.

'I didn't leave the back door open,' he said softly, almost to himself. 'So we can't get in that way.'

'Did we leave any windows open?'

He pursed his lips and tapped his chin thoughtfully. 'Give me a minute.' He plodded, barefoot, off into the bushes. A couple of minutes later, he reappeared on my other side. 'I think the bedroom window is open.'

'It's closed, but not locked,' I replied.

'Can we actually get up there?' he asked.

'You could try and give me a boost,' I said, shrugging.

He thought about it for a moment. 'No, I don't think that would work. And Hetty would kill us if one of us broke a limb because we were trying to climb in through a second story window.'

'And she probably chose this house on the grounds that it was especially hard to sneak into,' I said.

'True,' he said, pointing at me. 'Have you got anything to pick the lock with?'

'If we could find some wire, I could maybe pick it.'

'There's a garden shed near the pool,' Deeks informed me, pointing.

'Okay.' I set off down the garden path, past the pool and to the shed, which Deeks opened with a flourish.

'Charming,' he said, wrinkling his nose at the stale, musty smell of the small room.

'Light?' I asked, searching for a switch without stepping into the actual shed itself. I wasn't wearing any shoes, and I didn't really want to take my chances with tetanus.

'Found it,' Deeks grunted, and reached around me to flip the plastic switch.

Slowly, the bare bulb in the middle of the room began to glow.

'Lovely place,' I said, squinting into the dull corners.

'Wire!' he exclaimed triumphantly, pointing to a table. 'Or would you prefer a screwdriver?'

'Both, I think,' I said, watching as he picked his way through the muck on the floor and triumphantly brandished the tools at me before gingerly tiptoeing back.

'Right. Definitely going to be cleaning that thing out tomorrow,' he said, handing me the wire, screwdriver and a pair of pliers.

'Wear shoes. And maybe we should get you a tetanus injection, just in case,' I said, making my way back to the front door.

'No thank you,' he said exuberantly. 'No needles for me, thank you very much.'

I fiddled about with the lock for a few moments before it finally clicked.

'That's my girl,' Deeks breathed, opening the door.

I blinked. 'Excuse me?'

'Uh… not my girl, as in, uh, _my_ girl, but uh, like, my partner, yeah?' he stuttered nervously.

I sighed and shook my head at him before going into the house and watching as he closed the door behind us.

'I'm hiding a key underneath a pot plant,' he said, shaking his head.

'We don't have any pot plants,' I replied.

'Then I'm buying a pot plant, and then putting a key underneath it.'

'You can do you what you like, but _I'm_ going to bed. It's four in the morning.'

'Good idea, sugar-bear.'

'Don't call me that, Deeks,' I protested as I dropped into bed.

He pulled the hoodie off and dropped down next to me. 'Night, Fern.'

I shook my head. 'Night, Deeks.'

…

'Well. Isn't this cute?'

Deeks' voice spoke in my ear. 'Kens, please tell me that it's you that said that.'

'No such luck,' I sighed, and rolled over.

'I must be dreaming, then.'

'Not dreaming,' Sam said loudly. 'We're very much here.'

I felt Deeks sit up and look at them. 'What are you lot doing here?' he asked.

'It's ten in the morning. You missed your 9:30 check in. Did you just decide to have a lie-in?'

'We got back here at four am, okay?' Deeks defended us. I could tell that he had his arms folded across his chest.

'Why were you out?' Callen asked.

I sat up as well. 'Because this one decided that he wanted to go for a walk.'

'For God's sake, why?' Sam asked.

'Walking in the middle of the night is very peaceful. Good for the soul. But this one-' nodding at me '-insisted on coming to make sure I didn't do something stupid.' Deeks shook his head. 'I was completely fine.'

_After a while_, I thought. Aloud, I said, 'You know this one. He goes out for a run and gets himself shot. He'd probably get mugged if he went out for a walk.'

Callen frowned at me. 'Are you wearing one of Deeks' shirts?'

'So what if I am? He's supposedly my husband, isn't he?' I asked, folding my arms in a classic defensive gesture.

'We're very method,' Deeks added.

'Well, _you're_ method,' I said to him. 'I was just _cold_.'

'You're cold? You could've said so,' he replied, reaching for me.

I picked up a pillow and thumped him with it. 'Don't. Push. Your. Luck,' I said, punctuating each word with a hit to the head.

'Thanks,' he said blandly, looking at me. I'd inadvertently mussed up his hair, so that one side of his head was pretty much the same as usual, while the other half was sticking up all over the place.

I shook my head at him before getting out of bed and sighing. 'I need coffee before I deal with you lot.'

'I'm going back to sleep,' Deeks grunted, flopping back down on the bed.

'No, you're not,' I said, before dragging the bedcovers out of the room behind me.

'Hey!' his surprised yelp followed me out of the room.

I laughed and left the blankets trailing behind me on the stairs.

I started the coffee and yawned widely. Callen chuckled, leaning against the doorframe.

'You are _not_ a morning person,' he said.

I shook my head. 'You should know that by now. It shouldn't surprise you.'

'No, it doesn't,' he said, taking the coffee that I offered him. 'What does surprise me is your lying skills first thing in the morning.'

I turned to him, almost giving myself whiplash and spilling my coffee. 'Shit!' I exclaimed, shaking my hand before sticking it under the tap. 'What do you mean by that?' I asked.

He held out his phone, revealing a video on a loop. A barefoot Deeks was almost running down the garden path, running a frustrated hand through his dishevelled hair, which I knew to be matted with sweat at that moment. I came running after him a few seconds later, stupidly locking the door after myself.

'That doesn't look like going for a relaxing stroll, if you don't mind me saying, Kens,' Callen said gently.

I felt an unfortunately familiar lump grow in my throat at the thought of what had really happened, and fought back tears.

'Kens,' he said softly.

I swallowed roughly. 'It's none of your business, Callen.'

'It just looks…' he started.

'He had a bad dream, okay?' I hissed. 'He had to get some air, and I went after him to make sure that nothing bad happened to him. I thought he might pass out.'

'Uh huh. And this?' He changed the video to the one of us first checking the door to find it locked, and then of me picking the lock.

'We got locked out,' I said sheepishly.

He laughed and shook his head. 'I was just making sure. Because the first video, of you two running out… It looked like you had a fight and then Deeks walked out.'

I shook my head. 'No. No fights, funnily enough.'

We heard Sam and Deeks making their way downstairs, Deeks grumbling at having to pick up the bedclothes from the staircase.

'Not cool, Kens,' he said, shaking his head at me, his arms full of blankets.

'Well, they need washing anyway,' I pointed out. 'They've probably got sand all through them.'

He sighed and disappeared to dump them in the laundry before reappearing and making for the coffee, picking up a mug and swallowing a large amount with a satisfied sigh.

'So, you were just worried because we'd missed our check in?' I asked, narrowing my eyes at Callen when I was sure Deeks wasn't looking.

'Yeah. I mean, it could've meant that your cover had been blown,' Callen replied, taking the hint.

'There's this thing, it's called a phone. They're real simple to use,' Deeks quipped, punctuating the sentence with a slurp of coffee.

'Yeah, well, if you're being held hostage, you could answer the phone and we wouldn't know whether you were in trouble or not.'

'There's a distress word,' Kensi pointed out.

'Well, actually, there's two, cos you refused to use mine,' Deeks said.

'Oh, because it's really so easy for me to put "Fern" into a sentence.'

'Is "hippopotamus" any easier?' he shot back.

'Yeah. You just insult whoever's got you. Call 'em as fat as a hippopotamus,' Sam said simply.

'I'm worried. Have you been in that situation a lot of times before?' Deeks asked.

I yawned widely.

'That's what you get when you go to bed at very late o'clock,' Sam said, shaking his head at me.

I shook my head at the men, who were very subtly checking me out in their own ways. I s'pose I kind of asked for it, considering that I was wearing only very tiny shorts underneath Deeks' t-shirt. 'I'm going to change.' I narrowed my eyes at Deeks. 'I expect breakfast when I get back.'

'Of course you do,' Deeks replied, laughter in his voice. 'Or maybe you want brunch?'

'I want _food_,' I said, throwing the call back over my shoulder as I left the room.

'We better get back,' Sam called after me. 'Bye, Kens!'

'Bye Sam. Bye Callen.' And I heard the front door click shut.

…

**With the amount of coffee that Deeks drinks, does anyone else think that his sleep is often interrupted? Or, at least, that's my take on it. And I had to put some good Deeks angst in. I think that after starting to play the violin again, it would bring up some memories of home.**

**Let me know what you think. Your thoughts are very appreciated, and if you have any scenes or situations that you think should be included in this story, please let me know by reviewing or PM-ing me.**

**And now, on to the next chapter!**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Deeks

Kensi came down half an hour later with wet hair drying in loose curls curving around her face wearing a long loose skirt and a sort of ruffle-y shirt.

'Watch that spot,' I said from my spot next to the frying pan, nodding to the floor where she'd spilled coffee. It was wet, and I didn't want her slipping over on wet tiles.

'Thanks,' she said softly, taking the glass of orange juice that I gave her. 'Sorry about spilling it. Callen startled me.'

'He's been working too long with Hetty. He's started picking up her tricks,' I joked. She laughed, and I checked the frying pan. 'Ha. It's done.'

'What's done?' she asked curiously.

'French toast.'

'I swear, you missed your calling, Deeks.' She grinned at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. It was infectious.

'What do you mean?'

'You should've been a chef.'

'I like being a cop.'

'You had to decide that you didn't like being a lawyer, first,' she replied, drizzling honey all over her toast.

'I'm a jack of all trades,' I replied, sitting opposite her and stealing the honey.

'And a master of all of them?' she teased back.

'It's nice that you think so,' I replied, smirking at her.

'Well, I know that you're a good cop.'

'You think that?' I asked, surprised. I hadn't really thought that Kensi thought that I was a _good_ cop.

'Yeah. You're really good at your job. You'd make an even better agent.'

I tried to give her a carefree smile, but it didn't quite come off the way I wanted it to. 'I'm just taking life as it comes. I don't quite see myself becoming an agent just now, you know, I've still got so much to do as a cop…'

She shrugged it off. 'Well, whenever you _do_ decide that you want to take that step…' She gave me a mischievous smile. 'I'll be there to train you.'

'Isn't that what you're already doing with all of these courses?' I complained.

She laughed at me. 'What you're going through now is a cakewalk compared to what becoming an agent is like.'

I squinted at her. 'You had to watch an autopsy, didn't you?'

'Yeah. All NCIS recruits have to.'

'You puked, didn't you?'

She sighed. 'I was twenty-one and it was the first time I'd seen a dead body… a fresh one, I mean.'

I decided to ignore what that last part alluded to, and make a joke instead. The atmosphere was becoming a little bit too morose for my liking. 'It was all bloody and gross, wasn't it?'

'Hey. I'm eating,' she pointed out, and took a bite of her breakfast. 'That's disgusting.'

'Well, you _did_ puke.'

'You didn't?'

'No. I disgraced myself in a less gross way.'

'You passed out, didn't you?' She was grinning. She was mocking me.

'You're mocking me,' I said, pouting.

'You _did_ pass out.'

I shuddered. 'There were needles.'

She smiled. 'It's natural to be scared, Deeks.'

I looked at her carefully. 'What are you scared of, Miss Blye?'

'That's for me to know and you to hopefully never find out, Marty.'

I laughed. To think that Kensi was scared of anything really was laughable.

'Don't laugh,' she scolded, reaching over the table to punch me _hard_ in the shoulder.

'Ow,' I whined.

'And don't whine,' she continued, glaring at me.

'Your secret is safe with me,' I said to her, smiling at her frown of confusion.

'Wh- what secret?' she asked, squinting suspiciously at me.

'The fact that you actually _are_ scared of something,' I replied. 'You're not so much a big bad Blye.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Nice alliteration. And no, I'm human. It's human to be… scared.'

'I know. I've been scared more times than I care to remember.'

'Not because of me, I hope,' she said softly.

I remembered the many, many times she'd caused my heart to skip a beat because I thought I was about to witness her do herself an injury. 'Yes,' I said honestly, remembering the laser beams in the Stadium, the car hitting her on her way to the canal, being held hostage by Stan King, the entire situation with Kensi and her father's murderer.

Her mouth dropped open a little bit, and she said, very eloquently, 'Oh.'

'You done?' I asked, a little bit brusquely, I have to admit, but I didn't want to linger on the point.

'Done?' she asked, bemused.

'Breakfast?' I motioned to her empty plate.

'Oh. Yeah, I guess.'

I took her plate and mine and washed them, suddenly surprised when Kensi appeared next to me, towel in hand, and silently wiped them dry.

'It's weird,' she suddenly said, and I jumped.

'What's weird?' I asked.

'Us. This,' she clarified. 'It's almost as if we've been doing this forever.'

'Maybe we have been.'

'Don't tell me you believe in other lives,' she said with a soft, amused smile.

'Well, you gotta believe in something.'

'What were you, then?' she asked, a teasing tone in her voice.

I shrugged. 'I'm pretty sure I was female.'

She immediately cracked up into laughter.

'What?' I asked.

'I can't believe that _you_ said that.'

'If I didn't say it, you would've,' I replied. 'You – I think that you were a… queen.'

'A queen?' she replied, squinting strangely at me.

'Beautiful, regal, strong, courageous. I could just imagine you riding into battle on a white horse, covered in shiny armour and wielding a silver sword.'

She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and I suddenly realised that she was blushing. _I_ had made her blush.

'Thanks, Deeks,' she said softly.

'I, um…'

Suddenly, a loud rap on the door interrupted us.

She sighed and gave me a look. 'More vultures.' She grinned before leaving me. 'You wanna get dressed, honey?'

I looked down at myself and realised that I was only wearing my pyjama pants. 'Oh.' I sprinted upstairs, thankful that Kensi had waited until I was in the bedroom until she opened the door. I threw on the first clean jeans that I saw, struggling into the smaller size that Hetty had inflicted on me before grabbing a grey t-shirt and pulling it over my head, knowing that my hair would just do its own thing and there was no point in trying to fix it.

I opened the bedroom door just in time to hear Kensi say, 'My husband should be down shortly.'

A decidedly feminine voice answered, 'Oh, this picture is just _adorable_. How long have you been married?'

I jogged down the stairs and joined Kensi in the living room, where she was just sitting down with a woman, a man and a teenage girl.

'Just a couple of weeks, actually,' Kensi said as I perched on the arm of her chair. 'This is my husband, Marty.'

I reached down and squeezed her hand. 'Hi.'

'Oh, well, I'm Hannah, and this is Will and our daughter-'

'Lily. I'm Lily. I can introduce myself, Mom. I'm seventeen.'

'It's really nice to meet you, Lily,' I said, offering my hand to her.

She grinned at me, a sparkle in her eye as she took my hand and firmly shook it. 'You too.'

Will shook my hand next. 'David tells me you surf.'

'When I can,' I replied, surprised that the men had already talked. Then I remembered that they surfed together of a morning.

'These men and their surfing,' Hannah said to Kensi.

'I honestly don't see the attraction,' Kensi replied, smiling. 'I'd prefer to be snug and fast asleep in my nice warm bed.'

'I very much agree,' Hannah replied.

'What about you, Lily?' I asked the teenager.

'I love the beach. But I prefer swimming to surfing. I'm a bit clumsy on my feet.'

'Well, I'll race you next time I see you on the beach.'

'You've got yourself a race, Mr Johnson.'

'Marty,' I said immediately.

'Cool,' she said, tossing long blonde sun-lightened hair over her shoulder.

'And I guess I'll see you out there on the waves,' Will said, grinning at me.

'Definitely,' I replied.

'Would you like something to drink?' Kensi offered. 'Coffee? Tea? Juice?'

'No thank you,' Hannah said after a silent conference with her family. 'We'd actually better go. Lily has an appointment in a couple of hours, and we want her to get some rest before she goes.'

'Well, it was nice meeting you,' Kensi said, rising.

'And you,' Hannah replied, taking Kensi's hand, and then mine.

'I'll see you out on the beach,' I said to Will and Lily, who grinned mischievously.

They were gone very quickly, and I collapsed down on the couch with a sigh.

'I feel like that too,' Kensi said, flopping down next to me. 'Do you think Hetty picked this couch on the grounds that she could see us doing this?'

'Probably. How about you ask her when she comes to visit this afternoon. My 'Aunt' Hetty.'

'You call her that and she'll probably castrate you with her letter opener,' Kensi said to me.

'Prob'ly,' I admitted.

Kensi yawned widely.

'Tired?' I asked.

'No,' she said immediately.

I just looked at her.

'Little bit,' she finally admitted.

'Go take a nap,' I said, nodding to the bedroom. 'It's my fault you're tired. I'll keep an eye on the Paulsons.'

'You sure?' she asked hesitantly.

'Absolutely. I'll wake you up when Hetty gets here.'

'I guess I could do with some more sleep.'

'Go on,' I said softly.

'Okay.' Yawning, she made her way upstairs, and the bedroom door clicked closed.

I stretched out on the sofa, pulled my phone out of my pocket, and started playing "Angry Birds".

…

I sat alone in the afternoon sunlight on the steps on the front porch of "our" house, bare feet on the hot stone, mug of coffee on the step beside me. Absently, I picked it up and took a sip before putting it down, savouring the warm sunshine on my face.

I heard the front door click open and then shut, and then open and shut again, before a warm body settled itself beside me, and Kensi rested her head on my shoulder.

'Hey,' she said softly, and I noted that she'd changed into a soft yellow knee length sundress. She reached over me and picked up my coffee cup, taking a sip. She wrinkled her nose and handed it back. 'You don't put enough sugar in your coffee.'

'I don't put _any_ sugar in my coffee.'

'Exactly.' She returned to her original position, her head on my shoulder.

'You checked the door,' I teased gently.

'I was just making sure that it didn't lock behind me.'

'It didn't,' I said.

'I brought a key with me anyway,' she admitted.

'There's one underneath the mat,' I whispered, winking at her.

She laughed.

'Good sleep?' I asked.

'Very.' She turned her head slightly so that she could examine my face. 'You look exhausted. There are circles beneath your eyes.'

I shook my head. 'Wouldn't be able to sleep.'

'The dream?' she asked softly.

I remembered the flashes, the terror that I'd felt, and a shiver ran down my spine. Her hand found mine, and I knew that in her close proximity she'd felt it. 'The dream,' I agreed.

'If you need anything,' she said softly, hesitantly.

'I'll be alright,' I replied, squeezing her hand.

Across the street, David started to tend to his lawnmower, and seeing us, waved. We waved back, and he went back to what he was doing with a smile.

'This is nice,' I said softly. 'You know, the whole suburbia thing?'

'It's a lot better than I thought it would be,' she replied, sighing. 'I thought it would be a whole lot more…'

'"Desperate Housewives"?' I suggested dryly.

'Maybe.'

Suddenly, we could hear the throaty purr of a Jaguar coming closer.

'Here comes trouble,' I said softly, grinning.

Kensi laughed. 'Don't let Hetty hear you say that.'

The car pulled up in the driveway, and I could see David straightening up to admire it appreciatively.

'Well,' Hetty said, getting out of the car. 'This is a lovely sight.'

'Hey, Hetty,' Kensi said softly. 'How's it going?'

'Very well, my dear.' She paused on the path and looked around, giving a soft sigh. 'It's a lovely day today, isn't it?'

'Yes,' I agreed.

She looked up at the security camera and smiled. 'I hear you're fond of taking midnight strolls, Mr Deeks.'

'More like three a m strolls,' Kensi muttered.

'I too believe in the positive qualities of a quiet stroll,' Hetty said to me. 'Very good for clearing the head.'

So she was aware of my troubled night. Hey, this was Hetty. Of course she was.

'Come inside,' Kensi offered, getting up off of the step.

'Yeah,' I agreed, getting up as well.

'Of course,' she said, followed Kensi up the stairs.

I watched as Kensi almost hesitantly checked the door, giving a soft, relieved sigh when it opened easily.

'Tea?' I offered.

'That would be lovely, Marty,' she said easily, but I almost jumped at the sound of my Christian name coming from her, until I realised that calling me 'Mr Deeks' would sound a little bit strange, considering that we'd been telling everyone that our name was Johnson.

When we got to the kitchen, though, we relaxed, and Hetty pulled out her laptop.

'What's been happening?' Kensi asked.

'There has been an uptick in chatter,' Hetty said quickly, typing. 'Everything points to an attack tomorrow night.'

'Oh, no,' I said softly. 'This means that you're going to make us do something.'

'Well, I was thinking that you've been here for a few days – perhaps it's time for a housewarming party?' Hetty suggested.

We both stared at Hetty in dismay.

'What?' Kensi finally managed.

'A housewarming party,' she repeated patiently.

'Why?' I asked.

'Because it will be an excuse to have both the Paulsons _and_ back-up in the same vicinity so that there is a lesser risk that something will go wrong,' Hetty explained.

'So, you're saying we get half the neighbourhood plus a heap of agents here? What if they do strike?' Kensi asked. 'Won't this just turn into a blood bath?'

'Perhaps not,' Hetty said slowly. 'We can just hope that the assailants will either decide to postpone their attack, or that they will go ahead with it and allow us to identify them and therefore neutralise them.'

'So, we're throwing a party that will hopefully save a man's life,' I said cheerfully. 'Fun.'

'So we must get started.' Hetty clapped her hands together before starting for one of the kitchen cabinets. 'But first things first. Tea.'

'I'll stick to coffee, thanks, Hetty,' I said, holding up my empty mug.

'Miss Blye?' Hetty asked, lifting a rather nice teapot out of a lower cupboard.

'Sure. Why not. I have a feeling it won't be the weirdest thing I'll be doing over the next two days,' Kensi sighed.

Hetty laughed softly and started to make tea.

'So what sort of party will it be?' I asked curiously.

'I think that the best option would be a sort of barbeque,' Hetty said, pouring out tea into two delicate teacups and pushing one across the table to Kensi, soon followed by the sugar bowl.

Kensi groaned. 'Hetty, the only worse thing you could choose would be a dinner party. I can't cook.'

'She's not kidding,' I confirmed. 'Her fridge consists of milk, apples and at least four cartons of left-over take out.'

'Which is why Mr Callen, Mr Hanna and Miss Jones will be joining you tomorrow morning.'

'Terrific. Would you ask Callen and Sam to knock and wait for us to answer the door tomorrow, please?' I asked.

'Sorry?' Hetty asked, looking genuinely confused.

'They woke us up this morning by picking the lock and walking into our bedroom, claiming that they thought that we were in trouble,' Kensi said, rolling her eyes. 'They just wanted a reason to poke around.'

'I will warn them about further trespassing,' Hetty said, nodding before swallowing the last of her tea and standing up. 'Well, I must go and arrange everything for tomorrow. I'll see you, say, five?'

'A.m.?' I asked, alarmed.

'No, in the evening, Mr Deeks,' Hetty said calmly.

'Oh,' I said, sighing in relief.

'Miss Jones will be setting up cameras in the kitchen, living room, study, hallway and bedroom.'

'Not bedroom,' Kensi immediately rejected.

I looked at her. 'You're planning something, wife-y dear?'

As expected, she punched me in the shoulder. Then she said, 'I just think that it's plain creepy to think that someone might be watching you while you sleep.'

'I agree,' Hetty said. 'And that is why I shall have Nell take it away at the end of the night.'

'Thank you, Hetty,' Kensi said softly.

'And now I really must leave you,' Hetty said, smiling. Kensi and I stood, and we walked her to the door.

'Have a safe trip, Aunt Hetty,' I said from the front porch, watching her climb into her Jaguar.

She laughed. 'Thank you, Marty. I'll see you two tomorrow.'

And with that, she started the car and drove away.

'Oh, God,' Kensi sighed, sinking down onto one of the chairs on the front porch. 'What are we going to do, Marty?'

'What we always do, Kensi dear.' I sat down opposite her at the tiny wrought iron table that sat on the porch. 'Wing it.'

…

**Uh oh. This has the potential to get messy. And that's without factoring in the fact that they're supposed to be protecting David Paulson at the same time!**

**What do you think? Anything I've done wrong in this chapter that you'd like to point out? Or is there anything you absolutely loved and would like to commend me on? Let me know by reviewing. I **_**love**_** reviews. And so does plot hippo Barry. He likes them a lot. It makes him make me write. Did that sentence make sense?**

**You may be wondering as to what's put me into such a fine mood as to have done a triple update (and yes, that is a **_**Pirates of the Caribbean**_** quote – aren't I lame?). Well…**

**I've had these chapters written for ages, so I figure I better post them.**

**You guys are so awesome for reviewing that I wanted you to have them.**

**I'm going on a six day school excursion to the snow (note to self – remember carrot for snowman's nose…) so I won't have access to internet…**

**So I'll see you in a week! It'd be awesome if we could get up to 80 reviews while I'm gone (hint, hint, cough, cough, wink, wink, nudge, nudge)…**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – Kensi

I cried out in pain as the car clipped my hip and leg and threw me to the ground.

'Kensi!' Deeks' voice called out, but it was faint compared to my thudding heart. I heard footsteps running towards me, before his face appeared above my head. I felt a hand grasp mine. 'Lay still, Kens. You'll be okay. It's all gonna be okay.'

I whimpered as pain shot through me.

'Kensi. Stay with me Kens.'

I blinked and groaned softly as the pain from my leg started to throb. 'Ow.'

…

_Eighteen Hours Earlier_

…

I woke up to an empty bed and a small pink note stuck to Deeks' pillow.

_Went surfing with the guys. Sleep in. I'll cook you breakfast when I get back. Marty._

I checked the alarm clock on his bedside table – it was only a little bit past six. I knew that he'd left an hour ago, and had probably woken up even earlier.

I stuck the note to the lampshade and flopped back down onto my side of the bed, stretching out and yawning. I knew that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, not when I was wide awake. I reached over the bed and grabbed Deeks' iPad, figuring that I may as well beat his high score on Angry Birds. However, the iBooks icon distracted me, and I tapped it, figuring that I might find out about my partner's taste in books. However, it surprised me. Fairly serious reading – Dan Brown, Patricia Cornwell, James Patterson, Kathy Reichs. And the classics, of course. _The Great Gatsby_, _The Picture of Dorian Grey_, _Great Expectations_. It was almost overwhelming.

I shook my head and checked his videos instead. _Fired Up_,_ Zoolander_, _Get Smart_. Comedies. It was funny; there was a guy who kind of looked like Deeks in _Fired Up_. I checked his TV shows instead. _Bones_, _Castle_, _The Simpsons_,_ Family Guy_. A mix of comedy and crime drama. Deeks was as contrary as a girl in his entertainment choices.

I gave up the movies and books, and instead went to his apps, and started playing Angry Birds Seasons.

Suddenly, though, a door slammed, and I jumped.

'Honey, I'm home!' Deeks yelled.

I sighed and put the iPad down. 'Don't you dare track sand through the house! We're having a party tonight, remember?'

'Listen to them,' Callen's voice floated up. 'It almost sounds as if they're a real married couple.'

Sam (I knew it was Sam, because it was so deep) chuckled. 'I'd believe it if I didn't know the truth.'

I climbed out of bed and slid my feet into my slippers before padding downstairs to find Sam, Callen, Nell and a wet, sandy looking, wetsuit-covered Deeks standing in the vestibule. And Deeks was holding a bouquet of yellow and orange flowers.

'You're dripping,' I said to him before continuing into the kitchen where I started coffee.

He followed me, and was followed by Sam, Callen and Nell. 'For you,' he said, almost shyly, holding out the flowers.

I squinted suspiciously at him before taking them. 'Thanks… why?'

He shrugged. 'Seemed like a thing that a man would do for his wife.'

'Aw,' Nell cooed.

I shot her a look before glaring at him. 'You're cleaning the floor later. Go shower.'

'Yes ma'am.' He put his beach towel over his head and started upstairs.

'And you still owe me breakfast!' I called after him.

'I know.' The bathroom door slammed, and soon we heard water running.

'How very… domestic,' Callen commented, but I ignored him and poured myself a mug of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table.

Sam looked at his partner. 'Is she _ignoring_ us, G?'

'I think she is,' Callen replied. 'Kensi, why are you ignoring us?'

'It's too early in the morning to be dealing with you,' I replied. 'So I'm hoping that you're a figment of my imagination.'

Sam chuckled and helped himself to coffee, while Nell got the orange juice out of the fridge.

'It was sweet of Deeks to buy you flowers,' Nell commented, taking a seat opposite me.

I touched one of the flowers, a yellow and orange lily. 'I guess.'

'You're wearing Deeks' shirt again,' Callen commented.

'You're very observant, G. Maybe you should be an agent, or something,' I said dryly.

'Very funny, Kens.' He reached up and grabbed a mug.

'I do hope you left me some coffee,' Deeks said, padding down the stairs. He appeared in the doorway wearing only his jeans, no shirt. I glared at him and tried to look as if I _wasn't_ affected by his half-naked state.

'Put your shirt on,' I said, hoping that I didn't sound as if I was nagging him – that would just give Callen and Sam more banter fodder.

'Yes, dear.' He pulled a plain white t-shirt over his head. 'Pancakes and bacon okay with everyone?'

'Sure,' Nell said, shrugging.

The two men looked surprised, but nodded.

'Kens?' Deeks asked me.

'Sounds good,' I said. 'Nell, Hetty said you had some cameras to set up.'

'Yeah, and I also want to set up a few extra computer monitors too,' she replied.

Deeks frowned. 'What excuse could be possibly have for wanting multiple computer screens?'

'We'll just say that one of you is a gamer,' Nell immediately said.

'Great. That's you,' I said, pointing to Deeks.

'Why can't we just link the feed to my iPad?' Deeks asked, frowning.

'He actually makes a good point,' Callen said. 'Neither of these two strike me as gamers.'

'Alright,' Nell sighed. 'Can you get me the iPad, then?'

'Sure,' Deeks said, bouncing upstairs. He came back down pouting. 'You beat my high score,' he said to me, holding up the screen that confirmed that I had indeed beaten him.

I laughed. 'It's not that hard to do.'

He sighed and handed the tablet over to Nell, who immediately started swiping and tapping. 'Yeah, this is doable. I can put an app on this that would allow the viewing of multiple feeds.'

'And it would avoid suspicion caused by having ten million computer monitors,' I said.

'I'll get to work,' Nell said.

'I'll give you a hand with that,' Sam offered before picking up her bags of technology.

'Thanks, Sam,' she said. 'We'll start in the study – I'll give you some time to get changed before I set up the cameras in the bedroom, Kensi.'

'Huh?' I asked, confused, until Deeks tugged on my/his shirt.

'That's mine,' he said with a grin that I knew preceded a lecherous line.

'Don't start,' I warned him before walking out of the entrance of the kitchen. I then paused, and turned back. 'And second thoughts - do start.'

His eyes filled with confusion.

'On breakfast, that is.' I grinned at his exasperated expression before leaving to get dressed.

I immediately passed on the dresses that Hetty had packed for me and went straight to the meagre selection of jeans that she'd allowed me – there were only three pairs; white skinny jeans, which I immediately dismissed, knowing that they'd get _something_ all over them, blue skinny jeans or black skinny jeans. I debated briefly before struggling into the black jeans – at least if I got something on them, it wouldn't show too badly. I put a shirt on and went into the study to check on Nell, who was alone, as Sam had disappeared into the bacon-scented kitchen.

'Hey,' she said, grinning from the top of the stepladder. 'Are those jeans tight enough?'

'Hetty chose them,' I sighed.

'They're not the only tight jeans, I notice,' Nell said with a wicked grin on her face.

'Nell, have you been checking out my partner?' I asked, with a mock-stern face. I'd been doing it myself.

'Nah. You know I've got a thing for Eric. Speaking of things…'

'There is no thing. According to Deeks, anyway.'

'So you think there is a thing?' Nell asked.

'Well, there's not nothing,' I replied.

'Tell me about it,' she said. 'The-'

'I swear, if the words "sexual tension" pass your lips, I will do something drastic.'

'Lust?'

I groaned. 'Nell.'

'I swear, I don't see why you don't just jump into bed and deal with it.'

'I've been sleeping in the same bed with him for the past three nights,' I said. 'Nothing's happened. And we can't sleep together, Nell…'

'I swear, if you say something about partners not being able to be together, I will come down there…' She looked down, and then at me. 'Oh… I will get you to come over here, and I will slap you, Kensi Blye.'

'But-'

'There aren't any rules against it. I went through the whole rulebook last year because there were like, ten million things that needed changing, or things added to them, and there were no rules against it.'

'Nell, it's not that simple.'

'Yes, it is.'

'Nell, I don't do connections. I don't do happy ever after, because I don't do _love_.'

Nell blinked. 'Who said something about love?'

I clapped a hand over my mouth. 'No-one.'

'Kensi Blye, are you in love with Deeks?!' Nell all but shrieked.

I clapped a hand over _her_ mouth. 'Sh! Not so loud.'

'You _do_,' she said, pointing at me. 'Oh, my God, you're in love with _Deeks_.'

'Don't say it like _that_,' I said, shaking my head. 'Like it's… something to be ashamed of.'

'Ashamed of? Kensi, if I weren't on a ladder right now, I'd be dancing. I'd be dancing the cha cha with Callen and Sam. I'd be leading a conga train around your house.'

'Okay, I get the point.'

'You mean you've finally embraced your feelings for Deeks?'

'I…'

'Oh, my God, Kensi, have you _told_ him?'

'No!'

'Now who's saying things like they should be ashamed of them?'

'It's complicated, Nell. And we're in the middle of an assignment.'

She finally fixed the camera that she'd been holding for the past ten minutes into place next to the light bulb and then fixed the fitting back over them. 'What better time to do it? No distractions.'

Suddenly, we heard footsteps on the stairs, and Nell made a zipping motion across her lips, and winked.

'Breakfast is ready, ladies.' Deeks appeared in the doorway of the study, grinning.

'Goody.' Nell jumped down off of the ladder, and I led the way down the stairs, managing to catch a snippet of their conversation as I waited for them to catch up with me as we went into the kitchen.

'You're a regular little minx, you know that,' Deeks said to Nell before they led the way into the kitchen.

'What are you doing?' I asked her softly.

She grinned mischievously before bouncing into the kitchen, where Callen was very diligently tending to the bacon, while Sam was scraping the last of the pancake batter out of the bowl and spooning it into the pan.

'Ladies,' Deeks said, bowing before pulling out each of our chairs.

Nell giggled. 'Thank you.' She looked at me. 'It's nice being treated like a lady, isn't it?'

Deeks tucked the chair in behind me. 'Sweetheart.'

'Deeks,' I said warningly.

'Yes, dear?'

'Really?'

'Yup.' He put a plate of bacon and pancakes in front of Nell, and then in front of me, and then put the maple syrup next to me as Callen and Sam took their seats as well.

'Oh, my God,' Nell sighed as she took a bite of her breakfast. 'These pancakes are amazing.'

'Deeks made 'em,' Sam said.

'Deeks, you are a God among men. I will worship you,' Nell said immediately.

'Worshiping me involves-'

I covered my partner's mouth with my hand and waited for the mumbles to subside. Finally, he stopped.

'Done?' I asked, hesitantly taking the hand away.

'Or you could just give me gifts.'

I groaned, while Callen and Sam laughed. Nell got up and tiptoed around the table before pressing a kiss to Deeks' cheek.

'Good gift?' she enquired.

'Very. Your turn, Kens.'

I punched him in the shoulder. 'Merry Christmas.'

'I love you too.'

My heart stopped at that, but I schooled my face into normalcy.

'Do you two need a moment alone?' Sam asked, grinning.

'Because we can always step out,' Callen added.

'Very funny,' I said, rolling my eyes.

Nell put her knife and fork down, and I realised that time we'd been bantering, she'd finished. 'I have cameras to set up.'

'Do you need some help?' Sam asked, who had also finished in record time.

'I could use a hand carrying the ladder and equipment,' she said.

'Hetty said that the garden shed needs some cleaning out,' Callen said, swallowing the last of his coffee.

'Weren't you going to do that yesterday?' I asked Deeks.

'Got busy with something else,' Deeks replied. I knew that that something else was probably the violin.

'Then I'll do it.' Callen got up, and Nell and Sam followed suit before leaving us alone sitting at the kitchen table.

'Well,' Deeks said awkwardly.

'Well,' I repeated.

'I guess we need to invite… people. That's what you do with a housewarming party, right?' he asked.

I shrugged. 'I guess… Should we go for a walk, then? Invite everyone in sight?'

'Guess so,' he replied.

'Hetty didn't know what she was getting us into, did she?' I asked.

'She did,' he said, completely certain. 'She definitely did. That's why she did this.'

I laughed. 'Prob'ly.'

'Oh, well,' he sighed, stretching before getting up and collecting plates from the table. 'You done?'

I ate the last bite of pancake. 'Done.'

'They're fast eaters, aren't they?' he asked, nodding to the empty plates.

'Yeah. Surprisingly.'

'Well, not Callen. But Sam, yes. And I would've thought that Nell would take the time to savour her food.'

'Well, she did take the time to worship you,' I joked.

'Yeah. And you didn't.' He pouted, but I knew that he was faking it.

'Oh,' I sighed, before stepping away from the table and kissing him on the cheek. 'Happy?'

He grinned, and I suddenly realised that he was flushed pink. 'Very.'

I wrinkled my nose. 'If you want another kiss, shave.'

'Yes, wife-y dear. Give me two minutes to clean up and then we'll go invite people.'

''kay,' I replied, before going out of the kitchen, to find Nell leaning against the wall beside the doorframe.

'I knew you'd end up kissing him,' she said, grinning like the Cheshire cat from Alice In Wonderland.

I rolled my eyes. 'He'd pout for the rest of the day if I didn't. And what did he mean earlier, calling you a regular little minx?'

'Oh, just referring to a conversation we had earlier.'

'It wouldn't have something to do with him playing the violin, would it?' I asked her quietly.

Her eyes widened almost comically. 'What? He told you?'

'No.'

'Then how did you find out?'

'I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of classical music. I looked out the window to find Deeks standing next to the pool playing a violin.'

Nell clapped a hand over her mouth. 'You're not supposed to know. It's a surprise…'

'Oh, trust me, it _was_ a surprise.'

'Just…' Nell thought for a moment. 'Just pretend you don't know, Kensi. Pretend that it's a surprise?'

I sighed and shook my head. 'I don't know _why_ I'm agreeing to this, but… okay.'

Nell clapped her hands happily. 'Thank you! Trust me, it'll be worth it.'

'You're lucky I trust you, Nell.'

'Why is Nell lucky that you trust her?' Deeks asked, appearing in the doorway and resting his blonde head against the doorframe.

'I'm picking her dress for the party tonight,' Nell said quickly, making up a lie almost scarily and definitely impressively quickly.

'Aw…' Deeks pouted. 'I thought _I_ had that honour.'

'Not likely,' I said. 'Come on. Let's go.'

'Where are you guys going?' Nell asked.

'To invite people,' Deeks said. 'You'll take care of things here, won't you?'

'Of course. And you don't mind if I start cooking stuff?' Nell asked.

'Of course not. Hetty's bringing a heap of stuff with her, but there's still things that you can do,' I said.

'Cool. I've finished with the cameras, so I'll go and do that now.'

'And where's Sam?' Deeks asked.

'He's cleaning the pool,' Nell informed us promptly.

'Cool. Come on, honey.' He grinned at me. 'Let's go for a walk.'

I sighed. 'I really hate this sometimes, you know that.'

'I know. Bye, Nell. Don't burn the house down.' He waved at her before latching onto my hand and pulling me out of the door.

…

**Yes, I know I left you hanging with that little snippet at the start of the chapter, but it's just a little taste of what's to come. **

**You also might have noticed my little nod to Eric Christian Olsen in "Fired Up". I first saw that movie recently, and found it hilarious.**

**Review. Your thoughts on my writing are very appreciated. Thank you! **

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – Deeks

'Kensi!' I screamed as I watched the car plough into her side, her head, throwing her to the ground. It was as if it was happening in slow motion, and I couldn't do a thing to stop it.

I ran forward and skidded onto my knees beside her, calling her name as I took her hand. 'Lay still, Kens. You'll be okay. It's all gonna be okay.'

She whimpered and the sound shot straight through my heart. I roughly wiped sudden tears out of my eyes with my free hand as I said, 'Kensi. Stay with me Kens.'

…

_Fourteen Hours Earlier_

…

I tugged on my "wife's" hand, pulling her down the garden path.

'Slow down,' she demanded, tugging in the opposite direction.

''kay.' I stopped for a moment so that she caught up, and wound an arm around her waist.

'Deeks,' she hissed. 'Personal space.'

'We're married. The concept is void.' I pulled her so that her side was pressed flush against mine. 'Come on, sugar blossom. Should we start with the Paulsons?'

''kay,' she said, and I _knew_ that tone of voice. It was her "absent" tone of voice – the lights were on, but she was far, far away. Yes, I am aware that I'm mixing my metaphors. So sue me – I'll win. I'm a lawyer.

'Kens,' I said softly. 'Everything okay?'

Ever since her conversation with Nell, she hadn't been quite _there_. Physically, she'd been right where she should be – next to me. However, mentally, she was miles away.

'Fine. Absolutely fine.'

Now, we _all_ know what "fine" means in Kensi's book. It means that she's everything _but_ fine. But I let it go, because I knew that there was time to deal with it later. Oh, how wrong I was…

She wriggled out of my grasp and took my hand again. 'Paulsons. Remember?'

We walked over to the house opposite ours. She nodded to the silver-grey Dodge Challenger parked on the street four houses away. 'Nice car.'

'Lots of power,' I commented, rapping on the front door of David and Emily Paulson's house.

After a couple of moments, the door swung open, revealing a harried looking Emma holding a bawling Jessica.

'Oh, hi, guys,' she said, bouncing the baby.

'Here,' I immediately said, dropping Kensi's hand and holding my hands out for the child.

'Are you sure?' she asked. 'She's teething.'

'Absolutely.' And I took tiny little Jess and cradled her in my arms. It was ridiculous – she was adorable even when crying so hard that her fists were balled up and her face was all screwed up.

'Come in,' Emily said, opening the door wider and letting us in.

'Sure,' I said, stepping in. Kensi followed, and Emily closed the door after sending a nervous look out into the road.

'Is everything okay?' Kensi asked when Emily closed the door rather loudly.

'Oh, it's just that…' Emily shook her head.

'I'm in some trouble,' David said, entering the room, running a hand over a cheek that was covered in three-day stubble. 'My job as naval intelligence has generated some threats over the years. And right now… terrorists are threatening to cut off my hand so that they can use my palm and finger prints to access the base and steal… stuff.'

'So why aren't you being protected?' Kensi asked.

'By NCIS,' I added. 'Isn't it NCIS? The Navy cops?'

'Because I can protect my own family,' David said, quite sternly.

I rocked the child in my arms, who had mercifully quietened.

'You really have got a talent with children, haven't you?' Emily asked, quite enviously.

'Just this one, I think,' I replied, watching as Jess fell asleep.

'Oh!' Emily reached out and grabbed Kensi's hand. 'I've got something to show you! Come this way.' She dragged my "wife" away.

'It seems that she likes you,' David said, watching his child with an expression that was almost fiercely protective.

'She's asleep now,' I replied. 'Here, you take her.'

David took the girl and smiled wistfully at her. 'My beautiful little girl. I'd do anything for her, you know.'

I nodded. 'I kind of get it… I'd do anything for Kensi. To know that she's safe, you know.'

Emily and Kensi returned, giggling.

'Oh, David, honey, Kensi and Marty are having a housewarming party tonight,' Emily said, resting her head on her husband's shoulder. 'Shall we go?'

David gave me a look, before sighing. 'If you want to, sweet heart.'

Emily made a little hop. 'Yay!'

'Well, we'll see you there,' I said, smiling. 'But we've really got to go, or you'll be our only guests.'

'Thank you so much for getting her to sleep,' Emily said, taking the sleeping baby from David. 'I'll put her to bed.'

'We'll see you tonight. About six,' Kensi replied. 'Come on, sweet heart,' she then continued, taking my hand. 'Let's go.'

I grinned at them, nodding as a way of farewell, before Kensi dragged me out of the house and onto the next house. And the next house. And the next house.

By the time we got to the last house on the street, both of us had sore feet, and Kensi was wondering whether we'd actually be awake for half of the party.

I rapped on the front door of the house.

'I have this feeling of déjà vu… have we been here before?' I asked, recognising the door.

'I don't think so,' Kensi replied uncertainly.

The door swung open, revealing a slightly grotty looking Callen. 'Did you lock yourselves out again?' he asked.

We stared at him.

'You mean we're home?' I finally asked after gaping soundlessly at him. I could've hugged him, I really could.

'You two look _exhausted_,' he said, opening the door wider so that we could drag our fatigued feet through it and collapse on the sofa.

'_Twelve_ houses,' Kensi said, sprawling against me and tugging her sneakers off. 'Twelve houses, eleven of which answered, and nine of which can come tonight.'

'How many people is that?' Sam asked from his spot in one of the armchairs.

'The largest family has five people – a grandmother, a dad, a mom, a girl and a boy. The smallest has two,' I said before sniffing the enticing odours coming from the kitchen. 'That smells really good.'

'Have you eaten yet?' Nell asked, appearing in the doorway wearing an oversized apron that was covered in flour and cocoa powder and what looked like soy sauce and honey.

'Two cups of coffee. Five cups of tea,' Kensi informed her.

'Six cups of coffee and a Red Bull,' I said.

'He's going to start bouncing off of the walls soon,' Kensi said.

'Why did you let him have that much caffeine?' Callen asked.

'What am I, his keeper?' Kensi asked.

'Well, you are supposed to be his wife,' Sam said.

'Does _your_ wife control how much you drink?' I asked him curiously.

'Not usually,' Sam replied. 'But I don't usually drink seven caffeinated drinks in a row.'

Nell shook her head worriedly. 'I'll make you some sandwiches.' She then disappeared.

'Even with all that caffeine, I'm dead,' I said, dropping my head so that it fell back onto the back of the sofa.

'Give it a couple of minutes,' Kensi advised me, before pausing. 'That's what you said when we were outside the house that had the Dodge Challenger outside it.'

'Well, the car was there, but no-one was home, which is weird,' I insisted.

'They might have gone out for a run,' she replied.

'The television was on.'

'Maybe they left it on by accident.'

We glared at each other, while Sam and Callen laughed.

'You two make such a cute couple,' Callen commented. 'How about you get married for real?'

'I'd ask her, but she'd take out her gun and shoot me dead on the spot,' I informed him.

Kensi laughed. 'He's right, you know.'

Of course, Kensi wouldn't lead me along. Not dear, blunt Kensi. No, she had to shoot that dream cold, stone dead. Right in the head. Between the eyes. Because Kensi doesn't miss, you see. Expert markswoman that Kensi is. Kensi wouldn't waste my time, making me think that she might care, just a little bit. She's just my partner. A partner that happens to know more about me than anyone ever has. A partner who has managed to crawl right under my skin and cut herself a nice tidy little corner in my heart. Yes, I know, mixing my metaphors again. But she's a partner that is anything _but_ a partner. Sweet, dear Kensi. At least I can trust her to tell me the truth. That harsh, cold, bittersweet truth.

'Deeks? Deeks!'

I shook my head and stared at Kensi, who was staring back at me.

'You good?' she asked.

_I should be asking _you_ that,_ I thought. Aloud, I said, 'Yup. Good. Just a bit tired. Zoned out, you know.'

'This should give you a bit more energy,' Nell said, re-entering the room carrying two plates with sandwiches on them.

'You're going to make a good mother one day,' I commented.

Nell shrugged. 'Large family. I've had a lot of practise.' She nudged my leg with her foot. 'Now sit up properly, or you'll choke.'

'Yes Mommy.' I sat up and took the plate. 'Thanks, Nell. Really. So, what progress has been made?' I asked, starting to eat the sandwich ravenously.

'I finished cleaning out the shed,' Callen informed us. 'And now I could really do with a shower.'

'So could I,' Sam added. 'Cleaned the pool and the barbeque and helped Nell in the kitchen.' He looked at his previously clean shirt and wrinkled his nose. 'Definitely need to change.'

'Well, why don't you guys go back to Ops, shower and change and then pick up Hetty and Eric?' Nell suggested.

'That's a very good idea,' Sam said, pointing at her. 'C'mon, G.'

Callen groaned and got up. 'I'm getting too old for this.'

I laughed. It was all that was needed.

'You laugh now, youngster, but wait until _you_ hit this age. All those broken bones and gunshot wounds will come back to haunt you,' Sam warned me.

'I've got a solid decade until I hit your age, Sam,' I said to him. 'So I'll enjoy it while it lasts.'

'By the time I get to your age,' said young Nell, 'I'd be thinking about settling down, starting a family.'

I put my empty plate down on top of Kensi's, which had been empty for a while. 'Oh, but I've already done that, Nell. See?' I wrapped an arm around my "wife".

Callen laughed. 'If only you end up with a woman half as decent as Kensi. And if only Kensi ends up with a man that's twice what you are, Deeks.'

Kensi laughed. 'I think I'm happy with Deeks, for the moment, that is.'

'Thank God I insisted on a pre-nup,' I said, shaking my head.

She stared at me. 'What have you got that I'd want?'

I shrugged. 'Well, to start with, I've noticed that you're fond of sleeping in my shirts. I could literally lose the shirt on my back for that, you know.'

She glared at me.

'We better go, or else Kensi will rope us into being accessories to a murder,' Callen joked.

'I'm insulted, Callen,' she said softly. 'You think I couldn't cover up my own mess?'

'I'm sure that you could, Kens,' he replied. 'But it's so much easier for two men to carry Deeks' body than just you.'

'Why are we discussing my hypothetical murder?' I asked, curious.

'So that when she actually _does_ murder you, we have a plan,' Sam informed me. 'Bye, guys. C'mon, G.'

The two men trooped out of the house.

A bell dinged somewhere in the kitchen.

'Ooh! My apple pie's done,' Nell said, jumping up. 'Excuse me, guys.' She paused. 'Kensi, can you give me a hand?'

Confusion clouded Kensi's face, but she nodded, and followed Kensi, leaving me alone in the living room.

Now, I know that Kensi _sucks_ at cooking – and Nell knows it. Which means that Nell wants to gossip.

You'd think they'd gossiped enough this morning. I know I heard my share of it, going up the stairs to call them for breakfast.

_I paused at the doorway of the study, standing just out of view. I watched as Kensi clapped a hand over her own mouth, shocked at her own admission. _

'_Kensi Blye, are you in love with Deeks?' Nell yelled._

_Kensi put a hand over Nell's mouth, and accompanied it with a 'Sh! Not so loud.'_

A smile grew over my face just remembering it. Now what I'd just suspected was completely and utterly confirmed – not Kensi's feelings for me, no, I'd never suspected those. But Nell _was_ trying to set us up. _That_ suspicion was confirmed.

I shook my head. I wasn't complaining that Nell was trying to set us up. No, I was thinking in the same direction as she was, just a whole lot slower. She was already getting confessions of _love_ out of Kensi – hell, I'd been conned into relearning the violin by her.

Good God, she worked fast.

I sighed before getting up. I really needed to shower.

…

**Ha ha! Deeks is onto Nell. And now we're certain that Nell is trying to set up Deeks and Kensi and turn them into Densi… Go Nell!**

**Lots of chaotic party scenes to come very soon and soon to be revealed – the reason for those little future glimpses that I've been putting at the beginning of the last two chapters… Kensi's been hit by a car – but why, and by who?**

**Sorry for taking so long in updating… the last three weeks have been kind of hectic, first with Preliminary Exams (and yes, those are as bad as they sound) and then my parents insisted on taking me on a holiday where I didn't have access to a computer or the internet. **

**Oh, by the way, on a lot of reviews to my one-shot story "Fix You" (another Densi, if you haven't read it – yes, I know, shameless advertising) mentioned that the story made them cry. If you were one of those people, could you please PM me or review and tell me where you cried, or where it affected you emotionally? Because I can't tell, and I'd really like feedback.g**

**Review, review, review. (Please).**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – Kensi

'Well?' Nell asked, putting on oven mitts and pulling a golden-brown, delectable-looking apple pie out of the oven.

'I want a bite of that,' I said to her, nodding at the pie.

'I wasn't talking about the pie.'

'I know.'

'Did you have a nice walk?' she asked.

'It was exhausting.'

'And Deeks?'

'Was exhausted.'

'And?'

'And what? What else is there to add?'

'Did you?'

'Nell, I think you're only carrying out half of this conversation out loud, and you're expecting me to read your mind for the rest.'

'Does Deeks know that you like him?' she asked excitedly.

'Not unless he's figured it out by himself,' I replied, sighing. 'Do you really think I'm about to ruin my partnership over some misplaced lust and some stray emotions?'

'Kensi, how long has it been since you had a date? A serious date?'

I shrugged. 'A couple of months, I think.'

'Seventy-one days.'

'You've been counting?'

'Yes. Kensi, this just proves-'

'That I've had a dry spell. It happens to everyone.'

Nell rolled her eyes. 'Dry spells don't happen to someone who looks like _you_,' she said. 'Not unless they don't try.'

'Maybe I _want_ a dry spell. You ever think that?' I asked, sitting down at the dinner table.

'No woman wants a dry spell. Not when she hasn't had a serious relationship for _seven_ years. It's time for you to move on from Jack, Kensi. And Deeks cares about you. So much that I think you could trust him.'

'Nell…'

'Not fully trust him, if you don't want to. But you could give him a little bit of trust. Trust him with your heart?'

'I don't need to do that. He's already made himself a nice little niche in it. Problem is that I can't get him out.'

'You _don't_ want to get him out,' Nell said sternly. 'You want to keep him in.'

'I don't know _what_ I want, Nell,' I replied, putting my head in my hands.

'You want Deeks.'

'I don't know that I want Deeks.'

'Of course you want Deeks. Hell, _I_ want Deeks. The difference is, he wants _you_.'

'No, he doesn't.'

'Oh, yes he does.'

'No he doesn't – how can you know?'

'He told me.'

'He told you? He told you he loved me? With those words?'

Nell tossed her hair uneasily. 'Maybe not those words _exactly_.'

I snorted. 'You're just guessing, Nell.'

'I'm hypothesising. I have evidence.'

I laughed. 'Give me the evidence, and then I'll believe you. But I still won't know what to do.'

Nell paused. 'Where is Deeks, anyway?'

I shrugged.

She sighed. 'What time did you tell everyone to come?'

'Around six.'

Nell checked her watch. 'Great. I've got four hours.'

I looked around the kitchen, which was piled high with dishes and plates and bowls filled with food.

'Isn't Hetty bringing a whole lot of food?' I asked.

'Yeah. Why?'

'Because you've made ten tonnes of food. Deeks and I are going to be eating this for the rest of our time here,' I said.

Nell smiled. 'That's a pity. I get the feeling that Deeks likes cooking for you.'

I shook my head at her. 'I'm going to find out where my husband went.'

Nell giggled. 'You sound so domestic.'

'That's not reassuring, Nell.' I got up and went out of the kitchen, and up the stairs, poking my head in the study and fully expecting to find Deeks on his iPad, eavesdropping on us using the new app that Nell had installed, or trying to beat the high score that I'd set on Angry Birds. But the study was empty, and his iPad lay untouched on the table, showing live footage of the vestibule, which was empty.

I frowned and went into the bedroom, only to find Deeks' shirt and jeans on the floor. Great. This was the third day in a row that Deeks had left his clothes strewn about on the floor.

I picked them up with a sigh and started to fold them, but a loud thud and a very loud curse made me look up in alarm. Another thud made me worried enough to burst into the bathroom.

'Deeks?' I asked, going in.

He looked up at me in alarm with wide eyes from the bathroom floor, which was quite slippery with water. 'Kensi?' His voice was about twice as high as it usually was. And he was naked. Very, very naked.

More quickly than I'd ever seen him move, he snatched a towel from the rail and wrapped it around himself.

'What the hell, Kensi?' he asked me in a yelp. 'I'm naked, here.'

'I noticed,' I said faintly. Oh, trust me, it was very hard not to notice.

'Great. You mind getting out?'

I ignored him. 'Why are you on the floor?'

'I fell,' he said simply. 'It's slippery. Why are you in here?'

'I heard you fall.'

'Then why did you ask why I was on the floor?'

'I, uh… was distracted?'

He struggled up off of the floor, but would've slipped straight back down again if I hadn't reached out and grabbed each of his arms to keep him upright.

'Thanks,' he panted.

'Yeah.'

We stared at each other uncertainly, and faintly I heard Nell calling up to us.

'Um, I guess we should, uh…' Deeks trailed off.

'Dryness,' I finished for him.

'Yeah. Clothes.'

'Good… idea.'

Very slowly, we went out of the bathroom, making sure to not slip over. But when we got out of the bathroom, I realised what Nell had been telling us.

Callen smirked. 'Just taking a shower?' he asked.

'Uh… we… uh…' Deeks looked like a deer in the headlights.

'Deeks fell over because it's slippery in there.' I've found that in situations like this, it was easier to tell the truth. And that was the bare facts.

'Uh huh.' Sam looked highly amused (and a lot cleaner than the last time we'd talked). 'He fell over before he could put his pants on?'

'Yes,' Deeks said indignantly. 'I did.'

'And Kensi went in because…?' Callen asked.

'Because I heard him fall. And he could've hit his head. It was a very loud thud,' I defended myself.

'Can we all leave the room so that I can put some pants on?' Deeks asked.

Torture over, Callen and Sam laughed and left the room.

'Well, um…' Awkwardly, I shifted on the spot.

'I, um… I know you're my wife and all, but do you wanna… I dunno, leave?'

'Suddenly gone all shy on me, Deeks?'

'You bet,' he said emphatically.

I laughed and left him to get dressed.

'Well that was fun,' Callen said, following me down the stairs.

'That was not funny, boys,' I scolded them.

'I said fun, not funny,' Callen said innocently.

'You meant it,' I said to him, glaring.

'What happened?' Nell asked.

'Oh, ask Kensi,' Sam said. 'She's the one that jumped Deeks in the shower.'

Nell's eyes rivalled saucers. 'What?'

'I did not,' I said. 'He fell over because the floor was slippery. I went in because I thought he hurt himself.'

'I did hurt myself.' A pouting but fully dressed Deeks entered the room, rubbing his hair dry with a towel. 'Smacked my butt on the floor. Got bruises.'

'You want Kensi to kiss it better?' Sam asked.

'If she wants to.' Deeks made eyes at me.

'She doesn't,' I said.

'Ooh,' Deeks said. 'She's talking about herself in the third person.'

'Shut up, Deeks.'

'Yes, ma'am.'

'You missed your calling, Deeks,' Sam commented. 'You should've been in the Navy.'

'Nah,' Deeks said, shaking his head and sending droplets of water everywhere. 'I don't fancy the haircuts.'

'And you wouldn't look any good with one, anyway,' Callen commented.

'Yup,' Deeks replied. 'I got my head shaved once. I'll never do it again.'

'And if you two even threaten to shave it, I'll superglue rainbow afros to your heads,' I threatened, thoroughly horrified by the thought of Deeks with a shaved head.

Both men stared at me.

'What?' I asked.

'Why are you being protective of Deeks' hair?' Callen finally asked.

'Because I have to be seen with him.'

'She makes a good point,' Nell added. 'Coffee,' she chirped cheerfully before going back into the kitchen.

'When will Hetty and Eric get here?' Deeks asked, tossing the towel onto the couch.

'Half an hour, so put that away,' I said, pointing to it.

'Yeah, in a minute.'

'_Not_ in a minute. _Now_,' I demanded, glaring icily at him.

'Yes, ma'am.' He gave Callen and Sam a twinkling look. 'She's so demanding. Do this, do that.'

'Shut _up_, Deeks.' I left the room and the men.

Nell laughed. 'You two really do make the cutest couple.'

'_Please_, Nell, for the sake of my sanity, don't do this,' I pleaded with her.

She smiled. 'Okay.'

'Did someone say coffee?' Callen asked, entering the room.

'I did,' Nell said with laughter in her voice. She picked up the coffee pot and handed him a full mug.

'Thanks,' Sam said, also taking a mug.

'I'll have tea,' I sighed, starting the kettle. 'I have any more strong caffeine today and I'll be up all night.'

'I'll have tea too,' Nell said. 'I've never been one for coffee.'

'Coffee?' Deeks appeared in the doorway.

We exchanged a wry look.

'Of course you'd hear that,' I said. I looked at Nell. 'He's had six cups of coffee today.'

'I think, for all of our sanities, that you might need to switch to tea, Deeks,' she said to him.

He sighed. 'Alright. Lots of sugar, though. Tea tastes bitter without it.' He sat down at the kitchen table, but jumped back up with a yelp. 'Ow!'

'Your poor little bruised butt?' I asked.

'You sure you don't wanna kiss it better?' he asked.

'Absolutely,' I replied.

'Absolutely sure that you do, or absolutely sure that you don't?' he asked. 'Because that "absolutely" was about as clear as mud.'

'I am absolutely sure that I don't want to kiss your butt better,' I answered.

He sighed. 'Alright then.' He disappeared before returning holding a cushion and sitting down on it. 'That's better.'

Nell pushed a cup of tea across the table to him. I pushed the sugar bowl across, and he nodded his thanks.

'How long do we have?' he asked, directing his question to the men.

'Hetty said that she and Eric should get here around four,' Callen informed us. 'She knows that she said five, but she thought that they might be of some help.'

'I do need Eric to check the security of the phone cables, here,' Nell said. 'We need to be sure that there's no chance that someone might hack us.'

Deeks eyed Sam. 'How about you help me by using those muscles to move some tables?'

Sam chuckled. 'I dare say I can help.'

'What about you, Callen?' he asked.

'I guess that I can help too,' he said, slightly reluctantly.

I chuckled and finished my cup of tea.

'C'mon then, Muscles,' Deeks said, jumping up a little bit too quickly and letting out an involuntary groan.

'You alright?' I asked with a small smile on my face.

'No,' he replied, rubbing his lower back. 'Hetty really should've let me pack some jeans that _don't_ squeeze my butt. It hurts.'

The guys laughed and led the way outside, bantering about all that the comment about Deeks' tight jeans allowed.

'I'm going to shower,' I said. 'And if I fall over, _ask_ if I'm okay before going in.'

Nell laughed. 'Okay. Be quick – Hetty and Eric will be here in…' She checked the clock on the wall. 'An hour and a half.'

'Okay,' I replied.

'Hey, Nell?' Deeks called into the house. 'Pick something sexy!'

'Sorry?' she asked, looking alarmed.

'You're picking her dress. You guys made a bargain. Remember?' I could picture the grin on his face.

I sighed. 'Alright then. Come on.'

Nell grinned, and I could see a wicked sparkle in her eye.

'Nell? What are you thinking?' I asked slowly.

'Nothing,' she said innocently, and too quickly to be completely innocent.

I sighed and led the way upstairs.

…

**Well, the party is about to start – and we're about to find out where, why and who has hit Kensi with a car… whatever you think it is, it's not. Which is exactly why the story is named what it is – It's What You Think It Is (Until It Isn't).**

**Thank you, everyone, for all the reviews, and follows… You brighten my day!**

**Review, please! We've made it into triple figures; let's keep going!**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – Deeks

I heard Kensi step out onto the deck behind me, but I didn't bother to turn around.

'Is this okay, honey-bun?' I asked, pointing to the arrangement of tables and chairs, the majority of which had been dragged out around the pool and onto the grass from inside.

'It's fine, I guess. If people want it different, they can change it themselves,' she replied distractedly.

'Cool.' Callen and Sam looked up and stared at me. 'What?'

Slowly, Callen pointed, and I realised that he was pointing behind me. I turned around to find Kensi standing behind me, fiddling with a dangly silver earring. And looking absolutely beautiful in a light, flowing red dress that fell to her knees.

'What?' she asked, staring at us. 'Is it too dressy? I _told_ Nell-'

'No, Kens,' Sam interrupted her. 'You look great.'

'Stunning,' Callen tacked on for good measure.

Sam looked at me staring at Kensi and said, not so subtly, 'You know G, I feel like a beer.' Ever so slightly, he twitched his head in our direction.

After a moment, Callen seemed to get it, because he said, 'Oh, yeah, now that you mention it, that sounds great.'

They shuffled into the house quickly.

'I don't know how they're supposed to be good at their job,' Kensi laughed softly. 'Deeks? It's too dressy, isn't it?'

'No, Callen and Sam are right. You do look great, and stunning,' I replied.

'And what do you think?' she asked, almost shyly.

Almost awkwardly, I met her eyes. 'I think you look beautiful.'

Her cheeks gained a reddish tone. 'Really?'

I nodded. 'Yeah.

Abashed, she looked down and fiddled with something in her hands. 'I, um…' She paused for a moment before holding up a delicate silver necklace with a small diamond pendant. 'Do you mind?'

'Oh. Not at all.' I reached out and her warm, soft skin brushed mine as she placed the necklace in my hand. She turned around and lifted her hair out of the way, revealing the tied bow of the dress's halter-neck and a fair expanse of bare skin. I pushed away mental images of untying the bow and allowing the dress to fall around her feet. As good as it looked on her, I was sure it looked even better on my bedroom floor…

I shook my head, glad that Kensi's back was to me, and carefully fastened the necklace around her neck.

'Thanks,' she said softly, replacing her hair.

Suddenly, we heard the soft purr of Hetty's Jaguar.

'Hetty and Eric are here,' she said.

I nodded. 'I better go change, I guess, or I'll look underdressed next to you.'

She smiled. 'Put on something nice, then.'

'Yes, sweetheart. I think I'm getting used to this whole married thing.'

'What do you mean?' she asked, looking a little confused.

'You tell me what to do and I obey. The only problem is, I'm not getting the perks that other husbands do.'

She rolled her eyes, as I knew she would, before walking off.

I grinned to myself and went upstairs to change, quickly throwing on a clean pair of jeans and a white button-up shirt which fit too well to have just been bought in a store. I suspected that Hetty had a special NCIS tailor.

I bounced downstairs to hear Hetty say, 'And how are Mr Deeks and Miss Blye coping, in your opinion?'

'Eh,' Callen's voice said. 'They're pretty much the same, except that Deeks flirts and Kensi can't hurt him so she gets revenge in other ways.'

'Like putting on a pretty dress because she knows he has to look but doesn't dare touch,' Sam added.

'Actually, I chose that dress,' Nell said softly. 'She wanted to wear jeans.'

'Good choice,' Callen said. 'He couldn't take his eyes off of her.'

After waiting a few moments, I sauntered into the living room. 'Hey, Hetty, Eric.'

'Good afternoon, Mr Deeks.' Hetty looked completely unembarrassed at being caught gossiping.

'Hey, Deeks,' Eric said.

'Eric.' I flopped down into the last empty armchair in the living room.

'Where's Kensi?' Sam asked, expecting her to walk into the room behind me.

I shrugged. 'She's my wife, not my Siamese twin.'

'She's not even your wife,' Callen said.

'Well, she is my wife tonight,' I said. 'And for however long this op goes for.'

'Hopefully, not too much longer,' Kensi said, entering the room.

'Ah! I knew that that dress would look wonderful on you,' Hetty said, smiling at her.

'Thanks,' she replied. 'It's a nice one. It's not as short as they usually are.'

'I thought you'd like that,' Hetty replied. 'And how are you doing, being married?' she asked, directing the question to both of us.

'Great,' I said, grinning.

'Really?' Kensi asked.

'Yeah. You were there.'

'Uh huh. You forgot to put your wedding ring on.'

I looked down at my finger. 'Oops.' I dug into my very tight pocket and pulled the gold circlet out and stuck it on my left hand's ring finger. 'That was close.'

'Uh huh. So, is there anything that we're supposed to be doing, or are we just going to hang around here until people start turning up?' she asked.

'I need Eric to check the program,' Nell said.

'Cool.' Eric jumped up and the two techs went upstairs.

'I'll get the barbeque ready,' I said, getting up.

'I'll help,' Sam said.

'Me too,' Callen added.

'We need cutlery and plates and stuff set up,' Kensi said.

'I'll help you,' Hetty offered.

'Thank you,' Kensi replied. We watched as the two female agents left the room, before getting up.

'So, what time are people actually arriving?' Callen asked.

'Six,' I said.

Sam checked his watch. 'It's half past five.'

I looked at my own watch. 'Yikes! Come on, then!' And we started to get to work.

…

Only an hour later, and the house was crawling with people. Hetty and Nell were running around the kitchen (well, Nell was running around, Hetty was a lot calmer), Callen, Sam and I were standing around the barbeque and Kensi was running around from person to person, trying to remember names, laughing with the adults, taking a moment to play catch with the kids, joking and smiling with the teenagers.

'Kensi's gonna run out of energy by nine o'clock at this rate,' Callen commented as I turned steaks.

'At _this_ rate?' Sam asked, taking a mouthful of beer. 'At _this_ rate, I'd say eight.'

'Nonsense,' I replied. 'She's Wonder Woman. She'll be fine.'

Callen snorted and took a swig of his beer. 'Even Kensi has her limits.'

I sighed before handing Sam the tongs. 'Here. You take over.'

'What are you going to do?' Sam asked.

'Calm down my wife.'

She was flitting all over the place like a butterfly in a garden, moving from person to person, greeting this person, getting to know another. As she dashed past me, I grabbed hold of a hand and pulled her into me before twirling her under my arm and holding her close.

'What are you doing, Marty?' she asked suspiciously.

'Calming you down,' I replied calmly. 'You keep going like this, you're going to hit a wall.'

Suddenly, some music started, and we both looked up to find Eric standing with his iPad on the deck next to a large speaker. He grinned down at us, and I grinned back up before twirling Kensi again, and then gently starting to sway.

Slowly, she began to dance with me, and relaxed in my arms.

'So, how's it going?' I asked, moving in time to the music.

'Alright,' she replied. 'People keep lying.'

'Lying?' I asked with a smirk on my face. 'Do I have to remind you that we've probably got the biggest lie of all?'

'Well, I can't help but feel that Ella and Aaron Erikson are having marital problems,' Kensi informed me. 'But they're pretending that it's all fine. Lily has a crush on the teenage boy who's in the house next to us but is denying it because they've been friends since they were tiny and she doesn't want to spoil it. Ironic thing is, the guy, Justin, worships the ground that she walks on.'

I chuckled. 'We're here to protect a man, Kens, not get to know the locals.'

She shrugged. 'Well, what's the point in inviting everyone if we don't get to know them?'

I chuckled in response, and we danced in silence until she lifted her head and squinted at me.

'What?' I asked.

'I thought you couldn't dance.'

'I never said that.'

'But you kept standing on my feet.'

'Oh, that.'

'That.'

I paused before looking at her carefully. 'Can you keep a secret?'

She stared pointedly at me. 'Really?'

I remembered that we were undercover operatives, on an undercover operation, where keeping secrets was basically life or death. 'Oh, right.'

'Yes, Marty, I can keep a secret.' She grinned at me.

I sighed. 'I _can_ dance.'

'How is that a secret? Were you afraid that Hetty might make us dance? Because that's already happened.'

'That's not the secret.' Internally, I sighed. 'I can't dance to songs that are in three four time.'

'Sorry?'

Too late, I remembered that I was the one in this partnership with musical training. Kensi had probably forgotten everything that she'd learnt in Music Appreciation in high school.

'You know how this song has four beats in a bar?' To demonstrate, I counted aloud to the song that we were dancing to. 'One. Two. Three. Four. One. Two. Three. Four.'

She nodded. My partner was a quick study.

'In a three four song, there are only three beats in a bar. One. Two. Three. One. Two. Three.' Just counting in three four time made me stumble and lean on Kensi to stop myself from falling over.

'You really are hopeless in three four time, aren't you?' she asked, smirking. 'You can't waltz, I suppose.'

'Nope,' I replied.

She giggled. 'You can play the violin, but you can't dance in three four time.'

'Remember, it's a secret,' I said, tapping the side of my nose.

She laughed, but continued dancing. 'I'll just have to help you.'

'I guess you will.'

She peered over my shoulder. 'Callen and Sam are talking about us.'

'Yeah?' I looked at her. 'My little evil lip-reader. What are they saying?'

'Well, Sam's saying that if he didn't know any better, he'd think that we actually were a couple.'

'Really?' I asked. 'And what does Callen say about that?'

'He's unsure,' Kensi said. 'He doesn't think that we're that convincing.'

I laughed. 'What else can we do to be believable?' I asked.

She shrugged. 'You could kiss me.'

I thought about it for a moment, and my heart started pounding the moment I made up my mind. 'Okay.'

And before she could even start to process that, I swooped in and kissed her lips. She was frozen for a moment before she started to kiss me back, and I almost fell over at the feeling. I could definitely get used to this. Of course, I shouldn't and I wouldn't, but I _could_.

At some point, a thought crept into my head, something about needing oxygen, but it was swept out of my head, most likely by the _lack_ of oxygen.

Finally, Kensi broke away, gasping for air. We stood still for a moment, staring at each other, before I grabbed her and started swaying again. 'What are they saying now?' I hissed.

'Um… uh…' She paused for a moment. 'Callen believes it now.'

I chuckled.

'Kensi!' Nell appeared in the doorway that connected the kitchen to the deck and called down to us.

'Oh, uh, coming!' She let go of me and hesitantly brushed a kiss against my cheek. 'I'll just… um…'

'Go,' I finished.

'Yeah,' she agreed before rushing away.

'Well,' Sam began, 'You definitely managed to calm her down.'

'For a while,' Callen added with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. 'She's my _wife_.'

'Not really.'

'Hey, people think we're newlyweds. All the newlyweds I've known are all over each other. Honeymoon period, yeah?' I replied.

'That's what the honeymoon is for,' Sam said.

'That was quite a kiss,' Callen commented.

'Yup,' Sam added.

'It was a cover kiss,' I said shortly.

'I've seen and been part of many cover kisses. That was _not_ one of them,' Callen said. 'Hell, I've kissed Kensi for covers before. She never kissed me like that.'

'It's probably because you're like her older brother. Her _much_ older brother.'

'I'm not that old,' Callen objected.

'I know that there's probably a decade between you,' I replied. 'And although she's a serial dater, I don't think her tastes run to older men.'

'Speaking of the devil…ess?' Sam asked.

I turned to watch her walking over to us.

'Honey,' she said softly, putting a hand on my shoulder. 'Are those almost done?'

'Yeah,' I said, watching as Sam transferred them from the barbeque to a platter.

'Here,' he said, passing it to me.

'Alright then,' Kensi said, smiling. 'Spread the word. Grub's up.'

Callen grinned. 'Finally.'

…

**And the party begins. But these things never go smoothly.**

**Please review. They make me happy!**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Kensi

I slumped into one of the stools at the kitchen table.

'That was quite a kiss,' Nell commented with a small smile.

'Of course you saw that,' I said dryly.

'Uh huh. You should feel lucky that Hetty didn't see that, or she'd split your asses up. You were not fooling anyone,' Nell replied, shaking her head. 'You and Deeks are ridiculously transparent.'

'I'm hungry. Are you hungry? You must be starving. Come on.' I grabbed hold of her shoulders and steered her outside, to where the food was.

'You're changing the topic and making it so that we can't continue to discuss it,' Nell said, sending me a look over her shoulder.

'Because I don't want to continue to discuss it.' I grabbed a plastic plate and filled it with food before collapsing into a chair.

'Hey, Mrs J,' Lily greeted me.

'Call me Kensi, please,' I said to her. 'I'm still not used to the "Mrs" label.'

'She'll get used to it eventually,' Deeks said, dropping into the chair on my other side and handing me a beer. 'So, what did you do today after you kicked my ass, Lily?'

I looked between them before leaning towards Lily. 'You beat him?'

Lily sipped her Coke. 'Uh huh. I was on the beach while he was still struggling onto shore.'

'She's good,' Deeks admitted. 'Very good.'

'Good enough to beat you,' Lily said with a grin.

I grinned. 'He needs a good beating every now and then.'

Lily giggled. 'You remind me of two of my friends. We keep telling them that they ought to get together, because they have _amazing_ chemistry, but they keep denying it because they think that it would ruin everything if they broke up.'

Deeks laughed. 'That was us before I quit LAPD.'

Lily looked at him in amazement. 'You're a cop? No wonder you're so fit.' She turned to me. 'I might have beat him in the water, but he beat me running.'

I smiled. 'I can beat him if it comes down to speed, but he beats me over distance.'

'And you and he started out as friends?' Lily asked curiously.

'Yup,' Deeks said. 'Maybe you should tell your friends to… try. You never know if you never try.'

'But don't pressure them if they've got good reasons,' I added.

'What's a good reason for preventing something that could be great?' he asked, ice-blue eyes staring straight at me. I resisted the urge to shiver.

'Not wanting to spoil something that's already good,' I replied.

'But because they're not together, it's _not_ good. There's all this _tension_,' Lily said, unwittingly breaking into our undertone-ridden conversation. I was _sure_ that Deeks was not talking about Lily's friends. I was _very_ sure that he was talking about us. 'It's so thick, it's like soup.'

'I know what that's like,' Deeks said. 'Sometimes you feel like you're swimming instead of walking, yeah?'

'Yeah,' Lily said. 'Sometimes my friends dimwittedly interrupt them during one of those moments where you're sure they're going to kiss… I feel like slapping them, sometimes.'

Deeks chuckled. 'I'm sure your friends feel like that too.'

'Nope,' Lily said. 'They keep saying that they don't feel _anything_.'

Deeks eyed me wordlessly, and took a long drink of beer.

'What about Justin?' I asked, rather conspiratorially, and rather obviously changing the subject.

'What about him?' she asked innocently.

'Don't give me that,' I scolded her.

'Excuse me,' Deeks said, sighing. 'I don't think that this conversation is my style.'

'See you on the beach, Marty,' Lily laughed before turning back to me.

He gave me an almost sad look over her head before turning away.

'What was _that_ about?' Lily asked.

'Huh?' I asked intelligently.

'That. It almost felt like we were having two different conversations,' Lily said.

I forced a smile. 'Oh, Marty and I used to be a lot like that. He's still taking every chance to remind me that he won.'

'Won?' Lily asked.

'He and I are very competitive. I usually win, but he makes a point of always saying that he won when it counted,' I said. I gave a small smile before honestly admitting, not only to her but also to myself, 'He made me love him.'

'Made?' Lily asked, giving a confused frown.

'Marty… he's lovable. He's a man who loves life and everything that's part of it, bad, good and downright ugly, and he's just so optimistic and… he's just the sort of person that you can love without realising it. And I didn't realise it properly until it was almost too late.'

'Yeah. I heard that Marty was shot.'

I bit my bottom lip to stop the tears from clouding my eyes. It honestly wasn't hard to fake this reaction. Just the thought of the way my heart had dropped out of my chest when Hetty had walked into the bullpen and told us that Deeks had been shot was enough to start the lump growing in my throat and the tears forming in my eyes. 'Just over a year ago.'

'I'm sorry,' Lily said innocently. 'Was it very bad?'

'Two shots,' I said automatically. I'd relayed those words so many times over that day that I'd spent in his hospital room. 'One hit a rib before deflecting away from his heart and the other was low in the torso.'

'I'm so sorry,' Lily said. 'You must have been so scared.'

'Scared doesn't start to cover it,' I replied, before viciously biting off the end of one of Deeks' lamb kebabs.

'I don't… I couldn't imagine how bad I'd feel if Mom or Dad got hurt,' Lily said, shaking her head. 'Especially that badly.'

'I felt like I'd been shot myself,' I replied. 'Right in the heart.' And that description felt very, very, accurate.

She reached over and touched my hand, which I realised was shaking. 'I can't imagine loving someone so much that I feel their physical pain.'

'Well, once upon a time, neither could I.'

A teenage boy walked past and gave Lily a bright smile. 'Hey, Lil. Wanna dance?'

Lily looked at me.

'Go on,' I said, nodding. 'Live while you're young.'

She smiled and took the boy's hand. 'Sure, Justin.'

'See you, Mrs J,' Justin said to me, giving me an engaging smile that was scarily similar to Deeks'.

I smiled at the pair and watched as he started to dance her around the deck to an old classic rock song that Eric had dug up from somewhere.

Nell collapsed into the chair that Lily had vacated. 'God, I'm tired. I put all of the dessert stuff out.'

'Great,' I said absently, toying with my plastic fork.

'What's up?' she asked.

'I think… I think I made D- Marty mad,' I said, catching myself before I slipped entirely.

She eyed me. 'What did you do?'

'It's not what I did… or said, rather. It's what I didn't say.'

'Oh?' she asked, trying to get more out of me. She succeeded.

'We were talking with Lily, that's her over there, dancing with the boy. And we started talking about relationships that should be and aren't, and it kind of felt like we were having two conversations at once.'

'Marty thinks that you guys could be something great together,' Nell said, shaking her head. 'And he's mad because you keep denying it.'

'Because we-' I cut myself off and waited until a group of small children had dashed past, passing a football between them. 'Because we _can't_ be together, Nell. We're partners. It's not as simple as moving from being friends to being lovers. There's so much to consider.'

'Kensi. Why consider it when you aren't even together yet?' Nell asked.

'Because all the solutions come back to the one thing – not being together at all.'

Nell sighed deeply. 'Have you ever thought about what Marty thinks? Maybe _he's_ thought of a solution – a different, better solution? He's really good at that.'

'I haven't.'

'Well, why don't you _ask_ him?'

'Because asking him would imply that I'd thought about… us.'

'And why would that be bad?' Nell asked.

'Because it would give him hope. And if I gave him hope and then took it away again…' I sighed heavily and shook my head. 'It would be worse than taking out my gun and shooting him through the heart.'

'Metaphorically, it _would_ be shooting him through the heart,' Nell said.

I closed my eyes and sighed. 'I don't want to hurt him.'

'But what if being with him could make him very, very happy?' Nell asked.

'What if leaving him made him very, very sad?' I countered, trying to hide my reaction to the very thought of making my partner sad.

Nell shook her head. 'You would never do that, Kensi. You love him too much.'

'There's no such thing as too much love,' said old Mrs Grander, sitting down on my other side. 'I loved my husband up until the day he died, and then some. May the lord bless his soul.'

'Oh. That's beautiful, and a little sad too,' Nell said. 'Have you been alone long?'

'Oh, I'm never alone, dear. I've got my boy, and his wife, and their little boy and girl. But I do miss him horribly sometimes. You hold onto your Marty, dear. A love like yours isn't something that's found easily,' she said, patting my knee.

'A man like Marty isn't something that's found easily,' I replied.

'Then don't lose him,' Mrs Grander said simply.

'That's something that's easier said than done,' I said.

'Then stop saying and start doing.'

'The woman makes a point, Kens,' Nell piped into the conversation.

'How am I supposed to start "doing" if he's mad at me?' I asked helplessly.

'He's not mad at you, Kens,' Nell said, shaking her head at me. 'Marty could never be mad at you. He loves you.'

I cut off my sharp response, remembering that Mrs Grander was with us. But Nell knew what I was thinking.

'Dear, did you make the apple pie?' Mrs Grander asked, thankfully changing the subject.

'No, not me,' I said, shaking my head. 'It was Nell. I can't cook to save my life. Marty's the cook in our household.'

'I must get the recipe. I've never managed to cook an apple pie as good as this one. They always end up with watery filling and soggy pastry on the bottom.'

'I'll get it now,' Nell said brightly. 'It's an old family recipe.' She jumped up and left us.

'That pie really does look delicious,' I said to Mrs Grander.

She licked her lips. 'It really is. Go and get some dear. You're awfully skinny. You really should eat more.'

I laughed and left her finishing her pie.

…

'Kensi!' Emily laughed and latched onto my hand. I could smell a hint of alcohol on her breath, but she wasn't drunk, just jolly.

'Hey, Emily,' I replied, smiling at her.

'The little one was asleep _hours_ ago,' she said, 'So David's insisting that we go.'

I checked my watch. It was almost midnight.

'Well, you can't let little Jessica get cold, can you?' I asked.

'She doesn't seem cold to me.' Deeks appeared before us holding a swath of blankets in which I assumed the small child was wrapped. 'She's sleeping.' He bent slightly and handed her to Emily, who took her child delightedly.

'Hello, little one,' she cooed, but the child didn't stir. 'Yes, I think we'd better go,' she continued. 'Where's David?'

'I'm here, love,' he said, coming up behind her. 'Come on. You're both tired.'

'I think you're right,' she said, blinking sleepily up at him. 'Oh. Where are my shoes?'

We all looked down at her bare feet.

'Well, there's no point looking for them now,' David said calmly. 'They were only flip flops, weren't they?'

'Well, yes…'

'Then we'll find them tomorrow,' Deeks said smoothly. 'They'll turn up in the light of day. Come on, you're falling asleep on your feet.'

'Alright,' she said. 'David?'

'Thank you very much for inviting us,' David said. 'We'll see you tomorrow, hopefully, with her shoes.'

We laughed and they left through the side gate in the fence.

'Oh, hang on,' I said, spotting a pair of abandoned red flip flops underneath a dark blue plastic chair. 'There they are.' I bent and grabbed them. 'I'll just run over and give them back.'

Deeks nodded and ushered me to the side gate, where he stopped and watched me start to run after them.

'Emily! I found your shoes!'

As I started to cross the road, the air filled with the sound of squealing tires and with a gasp I realised that the silver-grey Dodge Challenger that we'd admired only this morning was bearing down on me with a considerable amount of speed.

And then it was right there.

I cried out in pain as the car clipped my hip and leg and threw me to the ground.

'Kensi!' Deeks' voice called out, but it was faint compared to my thudding heart. I heard footsteps running towards me, before his face appeared above my head. I felt a hand grasp mine. 'Lay still, Kens. You'll be okay. It's all gonna be okay.'

I whimpered as pain shot through me.

'Kensi. Stay with me Kens.'

…

**Cliff-hanger… **

**Oh, no! I swear, I didn't **_**mean**_** to hit Kensi with a car. She just didn't get out of the way fast enough.**

**And it **_**wasn't**_** Barry (purple plot hippo) behind the wheel of the car… however, nor was it terrorists. And therein lies the rub. If it wasn't terrorists, who was it? And is Kensi and Deeks' cover blown?**

**If you want to know, review.**

**Oh, and on the subject of reviews: You guys are AWESOME! Wow! Almost 150 reviews; that's basically more than all my other stories put together. Yikes. I must be doing something right. XD Thank you so much, and please, keep reviewing. You never know – we might break 200!**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – Deeks

'Ow,' she grunted. 'I'm okay, Marty, let me up.'

'No, Kens, you should just sit there. You got clipped by a car.'

'Yeah, _clipped_. Not hit. Now help me up.' She held out her hands expectantly.

I looked at her unsurely.

'Nothing's broken.'

We both looked down at her leg.

'It's bruised, at most.'

Suddenly, Sam and Callen came running up.

'Kens?' Callen panted.

'I'm _fine_,' she insisted. 'It just clipped me.'

David came running up behind us. 'I've called an ambulance.'

'Again, I'm _fine_,' Kensi insisted.

'Yeah, but whoever hit you isn't. They wrapped the car around the power pole.'

We all looked around. 'Shit,' Callen cursed, running towards the car.

'You shouldn't go near it!' David called.

Sam sniffed the air. 'You smell that?'

I sniffed. 'Petrol. Oh, shit. That car could blow.' We exchanged a look before sprinting to the car, where Callen was already tugging at the driver's side door.

'Who owns this car?' Sam yelled at the growing crowd.

'Mr Lark,' Aaron said, moving forward.

'Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to move back,' Callen said, holding up a hand to stop him.

'I'm a paramedic.'

Callen and Sam exchanged a look, but I didn't wait for one of their silent arguments over the merits of involving a civilian.

'Come on, help me then,' I said urgently. 'And get those people back. At least a hundred yards. This thing's gonna blow, there's nothing we can do to stop it. We just got to get everyone clear.'

The two of us started to work on getting the door off, and we were soon joined by David, who, despite being part of Naval Intelligence and therefore not being quite as muscled as a usual Navy man, was still very helpful, and between the three of us, we got the door off and dragged the bloody, unconscious man out of the car and out of the blast zone.

'Stop the bleeding,' I panted before returning to Kensi, who had managed to limp about twenty yards without aid.

'Maybe it's a bit more than bruising,' she admitted, her face going red from the effort.

'Come on,' I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and we slowly limped away from the car.

Suddenly, we heard the familiar 'whoosh' of fuel catching fire, and the darkness behind us disappeared in the gold of flames.

'Deeks,' she hissed.

'Sorry about this, Kens.' I grabbed her and tossed her over my shoulder in a fireman's lift before sprinting to safety behind the trunk of a large oak tree yards away, knowing that we didn't have nearly enough time to get to the safe zone almost fifty yards away.

We scrambled quickly, pressing our backs to the trunk and covering our heads just as Callen and Sam screamed out 'Get down!' and the car blew.

Hot air blew over us as the car blew up, and Kensi screamed before burying her face against my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders as she curled into me.

'Kensi?! Marty?!' Callen was screaming, unable to see us in the dark behind the tree.

'Here!' I called, waving with my free arm.

Callen and Sam came running.

'Are you okay?' Callen asked.

'Well, we just avoided getting blown up _again_,' Kensi grumbled, uncurling herself. 'And I think my leg is a little more than bruised.'

Callen knelt and felt her leg, watching as she winced when he got to her knee. 'I think you've twisted your knee.'

'Great,' she said glumly.

'Come on,' Sam said, taking her hands and hoisting her up before scooping her up bridal style.

'Really? What is it with you men carrying me?' Kensi asked, scowling as she looped her arms around Sam's neck.

'Well, if Marty hadn't done that nifty little fireman's lift earlier, you'd both be well-done,' Callen told her. 'So that was justified. And this is quicker than helping you limp.'

Emily came forward clutching a plastic chair. 'Here,' she said, putting it down.

'Thanks,' I said, watching as Sam carefully placed my partner in the chair.

Sirens filled the air as fire engines, ambulances and police cars screeched to the scene.

First there were two ambulances, their blue, red and white lights lighting the chaotic scene and the four paramedics that occupied them sprinted towards us.

'Aaron!' One of them exclaimed, skidding to a halt next to him and immediately taking out a stethoscope and checking Mr Lark's heartbeat. The female paramedic grabbed Mr Lark's wrist and checked for a pulse.

'Heartbeat is thready and weak,' she said immediately. 'We got to get him stabilised and in the ambulance, ASAP.'

'Ma'am,' a third paramedic said, kneeling down by Kensi. 'Can you tell us what happened here?'

Kensi played the part of the distraught, guilt-ridden victim well. Worrying well. 'Oh, my God,' she whimpered. 'I was just crossing the road. I swear it was clear. He just accelerated suddenly and then he was there and I couldn't get out of the way fast enough. I think, um, it hit my leg and my hip.'

'We think her knee's twisted,' Sam informed him quietly.

He felt her leg tentatively, and nodded affirmative. 'I think you're right. However, we'll get her to hospital to check, and get her some meds. How's the pain?'

'Okay,' she said softly.

I resisted the urge to nudge her and remind her that she was supposed to be a housewife, not an agent, and that it was okay to feel pain.

He didn't, however, look disbelieving. 'The adrenaline. It'll start soon, I guarantee it.'

Suddenly, there was movement to our side, and three paramedics were wheeling Mr Lark, who had been strapped into a neck-brace and backboard, into an ambulance. Two of the paramedics hopped in and drove away.

The female paramedic sighed and wiped blood onto her pants before approaching us.

'What exactly happened here?' she asked.

'This lady… sorry, what's your name?' the paramedic asked.

'Kensi Johnson,' Kensi said easily.

'Mrs Johnson was crossing the road when the man in the car accelerated suddenly.'

'He swerved to try and miss me,' Kensi said softly, shaking her head.

'He clipped her hip and leg before obviously spinning out of control and hitting the power pole.'

'Is Mr Lark going to be okay?' I asked.

'His condition could be better,' the female paramedic said sadly, shaking her head. 'I've got no clue. Let's get your wife into the ambulance, sir.'

'I am _not_ being carried _again_,' Kensi said, glaring at Callen as if she expected him to be the one to hoist her up into a piggy-back. This, when I thought about it, was logical, because he was the only one who hadn't carried her yet.

'Of course not, ma'am,' said the male paramedic before jogging over to his ambulance and taking out a wheelchair. 'This do?'

'I guess,' Kensi said reluctantly, and allowed me to help her into it.

'How's the pain now?' the woman asked.

'Manageable. Mostly,' Kensi added, gritting her teeth as they went over a bump in the road.

'Sorry,' the male paramedic apologised as we arrived at the ambulance. We got Kensi into the ambulance and Callen pushed me in after her.

'Go with your wife, Marty,' Sam added. 'We'll take care of things here.'

This meant that Sam and Callen would take over the watch for a while until we got back.

'Thanks,' I said gratefully, and they both nodded before each taking a door and slamming them shut.

'Marty?' Kensi asked softly, and in the stark lighting of the ambulance I realised how pale she was.

I reached out and took her hand. 'Squeeze when it gets bad, yeah?'

She nodded and gave me a grim smile. 'This almost feels as bad as the time I broke my arm.'

'You've broken bones before?' the female paramedic asked.

'Heaps,' Kensi immediately said. 'I'm a bit accident prone,' she added, remembering her cover.

'I doubt you've ever been hit by a car before, though,' the male paramedic joked from the front seat.

She and I exchanged a glance and the female paramedic's eyes widened. 'Oh, my God. You're kidding me, right?'

Kensi's cheeks reddened.

'You mean you _have_ been hit by a car before?' the driving paramedic asked.

'Bounced off of the bonnet,' I said, shaking my head when she didn't say anything.

'Did you break anything? Major surgery?' the female paramedic asked. I s'pose she was half expecting Kensi to drop dead right then and there.

'Nope. Just bruising. I bounce well,' Kensi informed them brightly.

I grunted.

'Your husband disagrees,' the male paramedic said.

'Well, I just wish that she'd be more careful is all,' I said. 'We're only very newly married. I don't fancy becoming a widower just yet.'

We went over a bump in the road, and Kensi yelped and squeezed on my hand.

'Sorry,' the male paramedic apologised. 'But we're here, so we'll get you some help soon.'

Kensi gritted her teeth and nodded. ''kay.'

He hopped out and pulled open the doors, and between us we'd lifted Kensi and her chair out of the ambulance and were wheeling her into the hospital.

A doctor dressed in green-blue scrubs approached us.

'What do we have here?' he asked, eyeing us.

'Mrs Johnson here was crossing the road when her neighbour's car accelerated suddenly and though both tried to get out of the way, she was hit. Bruising and suspected twisted knee. This is the second time she's been hit by a car,' the female paramedic told him before smiling at us. 'Got to get back. Good luck.'

The paramedics left, and we were left with the doctor.

'Alright… Mr Johnson, I presume?' the doctor asked.

I nodded. 'Yeah.'

'Well, I'm Dr Lake and I'll be your doctor this evening. Would you mind coming through here?' He led us through to a curtained off cubicle. 'Can you get up onto the bed?'

'Uh… Marty?' Kensi asked softly, and I gave her my arm to lean on. She grabbed my arm and precariously balanced on one leg, finally half-toppling onto the bed. 'Ow,' she whimpered, and I realised that her leg really did hurt her.

'Dr Lake?' A nurse appeared, peeking around the curtain.

'Yes, Daisy?' he asked.

'We've got a Hetty Lange here? She's asking for a Mr Johnson.'

'That's me,' I said, jumping up. 'Aunt Hetty must be here with your medical records, sweetheart.'

Kensi nodded. 'Okay. You better not keep Aunt Hetty waiting.'

'Excuse me,' I said, giving an apologetic smile. I ducked out and ran almost directly into Hetty.

'Hetty!' I exclaimed, more out of pure shock than anything.

'Marty,' she replied, much more calmly. 'I have your wife's medical records. How is she?' she asked, handing me a manila folder.

'Bruised. A lot sorer than she lets on. They think she's twisted her knee.'

Hetty winced. 'That is a painful injury.' She led me into a quiet corner. 'And your covers?'

'Intact, I think,' I said slowly. 'There hasn't been any indication that they've been blown.'

She nodded slowly. 'According to what Callen and Sam said, I would lean towards that conclusion also.'

'Of course, we can't be certain until the mysterious Mr Lark gets out of surgery and wakes up,' I replied. 'But I think it was just an unfortunate accident.'

Hetty smiled. 'Alright then, Marty. You go back to your wife. I'll inform you tomorrow on our course of action tomorrow.'

'Not too early tomorrow, please,' I said. 'It's…' I paused for a moment to check my watch. 'Almost one in the morning. If we get home by two we're going to be lucky. As it is we have no mode of transport.'

'No matter there,' Hetty said. 'I had Mr Callen follow me in your car, and he's currently waiting for me to drive him back to your house.'

'Oh, thanks, Hetty,' I said gratefully, taking the keys that she handed me.

'Not a problem, Marty.' With a small smile, she turned and left. I made my way back to Kensi, who was having her knee strapped.

'Was it twisted?' I asked, looking worriedly at her.

'Twisted and badly jarred. Your wife is going to be on crutches for the next few weeks at least, Mr Johnson,' Dr Lark said, shaking his head. 'And I'm sorry, especially seeing as you're newlyweds, but you're going to have to limit… sexual activities.'

I tried to look suitably disappointed, as if I actually had the privilege of making love to Kensi. 'Oh…'

'Now, I've written a prescriptive for oxycodone here that you'll want to get filled,' Dr Lake continued, handing me a slip of paper. A nurse slipped into the room and deposited some crutches next to Kensi.

'Oh, joy,' Kensi said dully, looking at them.

'Have you used crutches before?' Dr Lake asked her.

'Unfortunately,' she said, frowning at them. 'Can we go now?'

'Sure,' Dr Lake said, gently checking the bandages around her knee.

She let out a deep sigh and propped herself up with the crutches before getting to her feet… foot.

'Can we go home, Marty?' she asked tiredly.

'Yeah. We'll just pop by the pharmacy and then we'll head home. Thank you, Dr Lake.'

He nodded, and we left.

'Sit down,' I instructed, and she followed my instructions without a murmur.

I got the prescription as quickly as I could and returned to find that Kensi had fallen fast asleep.

'Oh, baby girl…' I knelt down and cupped her cheek. 'Come on, Kens. Wake up. We're going home. Okay?'

She blinked sleepily at me. 'Home?'

'Yeah. Home. Can you manage on the crutches, or should I get a wheelchair?'

'Crutches are good.' She struggled upright and sleepily yawned before starting for the exit. 'We don't have a car.'

'Yes, we do. Hetty had Callen bring it and then took him back.' I pulled the keys out of my pocket and looked around for the car, spotting it nearby. 'Come on, Kens.' I unlocked the car and quickly adjusted the seat so that Kensi could sit in it comfortably, without having to adjust her knee too much.

'Thanks,' she whispered, and climbed in. I stuck the crutches in the back and got in.

As I pulled away from the hospital, I looked over. She was already asleep.

…

**And this seemed like a good place to end this chapter. Poor Kensi hasn't had a nice time of it, has she? **

**Now, I'm sorry for not updating for a week, but unfortunately, school started again last week and when I wasn't at school, I was exhausted because of school. So bless weekends, right? Please review – oh, and guys, when I said "let's try and get to 200 reviews" I didn't mean on **_**that**_** chapter. I meant by the end of the story, but the way it looks, we might get there on this chapter – you guys posted almost 30 reviews on chapter 14 alone! I reckon we can get to 200 on this chapter – what do you think?**

**And also remember – I update faster when I get LOTS of reviews…**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – Callen

My eyes locked with Sam's when we heard the throaty purr of the car that Hetty had provided Kensi and Deeks with at the start of their assignment.

Sam nodded and we went out of the door and stood on the porch, watching as Deeks turned off the ignition and got out of the car.

'You guys are still here,' he commented, looking at us.

'Where else would we be?' Sam asked him, going down the stairs. I followed him.

'Sh,' Deeks said quietly. 'She's asleep. She's exhausted.'

'Day like she had, it's no surprise,' I remarked.

Deeks opened the passenger side door and tenderly undid her seatbelt. He looked at up Sam. 'Do you mind?'

'Not at all,' Sam said softly. He leaned into the car and gently lifted her out. She didn't stir. 'Get the door, G.'

I jumped up the stairs and opened the door. Deeks went in carrying a small paper bag and a pair of crutches. Sam followed him carrying a much more precious bundle. He immediately headed upstairs and we followed him into the bedroom, where I pulled back the covers and Sam placed her on the bed. She murmured softly under her breath before sighing and falling back into her deep sleep.

Deeks deposited her crutches on the floor beside her and placed the bag on the bedside table. He disappeared into the bathroom for a moment before coming back out with a glass half full of water.

'Meds,' he said quietly, and we nodded, understanding. Kensi would want them the moment she woke up. He turned to his partner and carefully tucked the blankets around her, tenderly brushing her cheek with the back of his fingers. He sighed. 'I need a beer.'

'Seconded,' I said with a smile, and wordlessly, Sam led the way back downstairs and searched the packed fridge for three beers, which he finally emerged with and handed out.

'Long day,' Sam said, opening his.

'A very long day,' Deeks sighed, struggling with his for a moment before getting it open.

'A bad day for Kensi,' I said, shaking my head.

Deeks looked as if he wanted to comment, but refrained, and instead sculled half of the bottle in one gulp.

'You okay, Deeks?' Sam asked, obviously noticing as well.

'Great,' Deeks said, but his usually easy smile was very forced. He finished his bottle of beer.

'Maybe you should get some sleep,' I suggested.

He shrugged. 'You guys can go, you know. I can take the watch.'

'No chance, Deeks,' Sam said, shaking his head. 'You look only a bit better than death warmed up. The moment everything went quiet, you'd be out of it. Go to bed.'

'There isn't a bed,' he protested.

'Then what is Kensi currently lying in?' I asked.

'A free bed,' he corrected himself lamely.

Sam narrowed his eyes at the younger man. 'You had no problem sleeping with her last night, or the night before, or the night before that too.'

'She wasn't hurt then,' he said, shaking his head. 'I don't want to accidentally… kick her, or something. And she needs her sleep. If I went in there, she'd wake up. If there were a record for being the lightest sleeper, Kensi would hold it.'

'Right now, Kensi would be as out of it as you're going to be. Go to bed, Deeks,' he ordered.

Deeks sighed. 'Alright. Can I get a glass of water?'

'No, because then you'll need to pee,' Sam said, shaking his head at the detective. 'I've got kids. I know the tricks, mister. Bed!'

'Sh!' Deeks hissed. 'You'll wake Kensi up.'

Sam shut up, but mutely pointed to the stairs.

Deeks gave him a resentful look, but headed up the stairs with a stance reminiscent of a dog with its tail between its legs.

'Are you like that with your kids?' I asked.

'Sometimes, if they won't go to bed,' he replied.

We heard the bedroom door click open and then closed.

'Finally,' Sam sighed, and allowed himself to flop down onto the couch.

'I'll take the first watch,' I said, seeing how tired my partner was after cleaning up after the party.

'Sounds like a plan,' Sam said sleepily, and put his feet up on the couch.

'I'm gonna go sit on the front porch,' I informed him and took my beer out of the front door. I settled at the wrought iron table and started to wait.

…

Thirty minutes later, I was bored. This neighbourhood was the dullest that I'd ever had to watch. The most exciting thing that had happened was that a stray candy wrapper blew down the street on a stray breeze and caught in one of Kensi and Deeks' rose bushes. I'd retrieved it and shoved it into my pocket, meaning to bin it later. I pulled out my phone and started to play a game on it. I didn't have Deeks' obsession with Angry Birds and Plants vs Zombies, but I didn't mind trying to beat my high score at Doodle Jump occasionally. A few games later, I checked my watch and to my surprise I found that it was Sam's turn to keep an eye on everything.

I went in, and finding my partner fast asleep on the couch, decided to let him rest for a while longer. I wasn't going to sleep any time soon.

I took a leak before grabbing a bowl of left over sticky honey chicken wings and going back outside to eat them.

The front door quietly creaked open, and a sleepy looking Sam settled himself on the chair opposite me. I put the bowl on the table and he took a wing.

'You didn't wake me up,' he accused, eating it delicately, finally licking his fingers clean.

I shrugged. 'You looked peaceful. I'm not tired. You need your beauty sleep.'

'Ha, ha,' he said dryly, reaching for another. 'Go get some sleep, partner.'

I sighed and nodded. 'Alright. You'll wake me if something happens?'

'Of course.' He gave me a reassuring smile.

I nodded and got up. 'I'll check on Kensi before I hit the hay. She might want something.'

'Go to sleep, G,' Sam said, shaking his head.

'Night, Sam.' I went inside and went up the stairs, checking in the study before quietly opening the bedroom door.

They lay in a pool of pale moonlight, limbs entwined and cosily interlocked. Kensi's head was on Deeks' bare shoulder, one arm draped lazily over his torso. His arms were wrapped around her waist and his hands rested on her back. His face was partially buried in her hair, and he was smiling.

Kensi twitched as the door clicked open – I internally chuckled; she always was a light sleeper, and the fact that she hadn't shot me yet showed how tired she was. As she twitched, Deeks' arms tightened around her, and she sighed softly, snuggling up to him.

I allowed myself a soft smile and closed the door behind myself, leaving them to their rest.

I went back downstairs and collapsed on the couch. Perhaps an hour of shut-eye wasn't such a bad idea.

…

'Bacon?' It was the only word I was capable of. And that was only because I could smell it wafting through the air. Bacon. And waffles. And coffee. Lots and lots of strong, black coffee.

'Bacon.' A female voice confirmed my thought, and I sleepily lifted my head to find Kensi sitting opposite me, one leg propped up on the corner of the coffee table, a plate in her lap, another on the table next to her. 'I thought that the smell would wake you up.'

'You thought correctly.' I pushed myself upright and picked up the mug of coffee which I assumed was mine. 'You okay?'

'Hurts,' she said succinctly.

'All over?'

'All over,' she confirmed. 'I'm turning black and blue everywhere.'

I looked her over. 'You don't look too bad.'

'You haven't seen her try to walk,' Deeks said, walking it holding another plate and nudging my slumbering partner awake with his foot. 'Rise and shine, big guy.'

Sam grumbled under his breath, but opened his eyes. 'Hang on. If I was asleep, and you were asleep…?'

'I took the watch.' Kensi took a bite of syrup covered waffle.

'You shouldn't have done that,' Deeks said reproachfully.

'I couldn't sleep. It hurt too much.'

'Your meds were right next to you on the table.'

'I don't like taking medication.'

I sighed. 'Kens, if you're hurting…'

'I'm not taking anything for the pain except Tylenol.' She gave me a familiar look.

Deeks sighed. 'Kensi.'

'I refuse to take the meds. Okay? I don't want them and I don't need them.'

Deeks looked from Kensi to the meds and back to Kensi, obstinate as hell, before relenting, just as I knew he would – the way Deeks felt about Kensi, he'd give her anything as long as she was happy.

'Fine,' he sighed.

'Okay, G, we've been here for over twenty-four hours. I think I want to go home, shower and change,' Sam said.

'That does sound pretty good,' I agreed. 'But I want to finish my waffles first.' I picked up the plate and started to eat.

'I don't suppose you want to take some leftovers with you,' Deeks said hopefully. 'I can't actually fit anything else in the fridge, and we need more milk and eggs. But I can't get any more until there's room in the fridge for them.'

I shrugged. 'Why not. Leftovers for lunch sound good.'

Deeks brightened. 'Great. Sam?'

Sam sighed. 'It's not the most healthy thing ever.'

'But it'll be delicious…'

He smiled and shook his head. 'Alright.'

'You can eat some celery to make up for it,' Deeks said brightly.

Sam sighed. 'That whole thing about the celery being less calories than what are used in eating it – total myth.'

'But it's still good for you, right?' Deeks asked. 'And when you stick it in coloured water, it turns the colour of the water.'

'How long have you been out of high school?' Sam asked exasperatedly.

'13 years,' Deeks informed us.

'You could've fooled us,' I said.

'I am a very mature person,' he defended himself.

Kensi snorted.

'Hey!' he exclaimed.

'I didn't say anything.'

'You snorted. Like you do when you're asleep. Like a piglet.'

Kensi blushed a rosy red. 'Maybe it just means that I want to be asleep. Mr Breathes-Incredibly-Loudly.'

'At least I don't snore. And you're just incredibly twitchy when you're asleep. You wake up when an ant walks into the room.'

'I honestly thought that the door opened last night.'

I remained silent. The only thing worse than Kensi _thinking_ that the door had opened was _knowing_ that the door had opened. She had this thing about people watching her sleep. I knew this from experience.

'Speaking of sleep, Kens, you really should get some more. You too, Deeks,' Sam said, the father in him kicking into gear at the sight of the dark bags beneath their eyes and the sound of the long yawns.

'Someone's got to keep an eye on the Paulson's to make sure that David isn't getting kidnapped,' Deeks protested.

'Then take turns. There's a reason that there's two of you on this assignment. You're not alone on this one, Deeks,' Sam said.

Deeks appeared to relax slightly at that. 'I'll take first watch, then.'

'How come you get first watch? What if I want first watch?' Kensi asked.

'You're injured. You get more sleep.'

'You're just as tired as I am. And don't try pretending that you're completely fine. You pulled a muscle when you did that fireman's lift last night. I can tell.'

'How can you tell?'

'You're drinking your coffee with the wrong arm. When you lifted the plates down from the shelf, you winced. And you're trying to avoid having to stretch your arm out to its full length,' Kensi listed.

'Is it worrying that you spend so much time watching me?' Deeks asked.

'You're hurt just as much as I am.'

'Okay then. You wanna give me a massage?' Deeks asked, looking lecherously over at Kensi.

Kensi rolled her eyes. 'You guys gonna leave before or after you help me dispose of the body?'

'I think we better go before we become accessories to a crime,' Sam chuckled. 'Come on, G.'

'Yup.' I ate the last few bites of my breakfast and took the doggie bag that Deeks held out to me. 'Thanks, Deeks.'

'Bye, guys.' Kensi looked up at us and smiled.

'We'll call later, to see if you need a hand with the burial,' I promised her. She grinned back.

Sam chuckled before nodding. 'Bye, Kens. Be careful, Deeks.'

'Yup,' he said, sinking into the seat beside her.

We both grinned before trooping out of the house.

'Well, they're both hurt and we've got no clue when the strike team will attack,' Sam sighed.

'Yup.' We exchanged a look before I continued, 'This cannot end well.'

…

**But it's one of my stories, so it **_**should**_** end okay… right?**

**I thought we might have a look at how Callen sees things – and here, he's quite protective of Kensi. From what we've seen, Callen is protective of everyone in his team, from Nell right up to Hetty. And you can't blame him – talk about the land of misfit toys. Even Eric's got his problems. We haven't found out about them yet, but you've got to know that they're there.**

**Sorry about the long wait for this chapter – life caught up with me and handed me a large stack of homework, leadership duties and school excursions…**

**Please review – they make me happy.**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Deeks

'Go sleep, Deeks.' I looked up at my partner.

'Huh?'

'Go take a nap. You're exhausted.' She stared at me with huge, dark eyes.

'So are you.'

'You're more exhausted. I got more sleep than you last night.'

'Barely. I know that the pain woke you up twice.'

'And you know that because _you_ were awake.'

'And you only know that because _you_ were awake.'

I sighed. Kensi was too good at this game. I had one card left. The pleading one. 'Kens. Please?'

'I'll take the first two hours. Go, Deeks.'

I sighed heavily. 'Are you totally sure, Kens? I can take the first shift. Really. I don't mind.'

'Deeks, if you stay up, I'll stay up. I won't let you take the first watch. So go. At least let one of us be somewhat fresh for today.'

'Ah, you see, that's where we have a problem, Kens. Because if _you_ stay up, _I'll_ stay up.'

She sighed. 'Why do you have to be so damned stubborn?'

'I get it from my partner.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Funny boy.'

'I'm serious, Kens. Either you sleep, or neither of us sleep.'

'And I'm serious too. Either _you_ sleep, or neither of us sleep.'

'For goodness' sake, one of you give in, or you'll both be falling asleep when you're supposed to be stopping a terrorist attack,' Hetty's voice boomed from the sound system, and as both of us jumped, her face appeared on the television.

'Geez!' I jumped and stared at her. 'Do you mind not doing that? Is it just me that you do that to?'

'Hey, I'm here,' Kensi pointed out.

'Has she ever randomly appeared on _your_ computer screen before?' I asked her.

'Uh, no.'

'Exactly. It's me.'

'You're just paranoid, Marty,' Hetty said, shaking her head. 'And I'm siding with Miss Blye on this issue. Go to bed.'

I stared at her. 'But Kensi-'

'Got more sleep than you did last night,' Hetty interrupted. 'Go to bed.'

I pouted. It seemed fitting considering the circumstances. 'You women. Always ordering me about.'

'Because you can't make your own mind,' Kensi pointed out.

'Well, it's not exactly a case of making up his mind – he just can't compromise. Marty, what are you still doing here? I thought I told you to go to bed!'

I sighed heavily and went away, listening to the quiet strains of conversation between Hetty and Kensi, which faded away when I closed the bedroom door. I shucked off my jeans and t-shirt that I'd bothered to throw on to cook breakfast, well aware of the damage that splattering oil can do to bare skin. I crawled under the soft blankets, suddenly aware of how tired I really was.

I closed my eyes, and started to doze, still slightly aware of my surroundings.

Which is why when a warm, soft body settled itself in the bed, curling up beside me in the bed, my eyes flew open.

'Kens?' I asked.

'Nell's keeping watch,' she said sleepily. 'Hetty said that we should both get some more rest.'

I yawned widely.

She elbowed me. 'You were tired.'

'I was,' I admitted. 'And so are you.'

'Guilty,' she admitted, before closing her eyes. 'Night, Deeks.'

'Night, Kens.' Warily, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She gave a soft sigh before settling down into sleep. And I followed soon after.

…

'Good morning!' a freakishly bright voice chirped before pulling open the curtains and allowing sunshine to flood the room. 'Or rather, good _afternoon_. It's a quarter past three, and I just received a call from Eric who informed me that the police will be here in fifteen minutes to interview you about the incident last night.'

'It's _what_ time?' Kensi demanded, untangling herself from me with a wince.

'Three fifteen,' Nell said brightly.

'You let us sleep for like, _five_ hours?'

'You were hit by a car last night. You're excused. Come on, Marty, up!' She patted my bare foot, poking out the bottom of the blankets where Kensi had tugged on them, attempting to steal them from me. I say attempt – she was only partially successful. That's because I usually do battle with gravity to keep the blankets on the bed: Kensi's worse than gravity. I usually win against gravity.

'I'm up,' I said before burrowing my face back in the pillow.

Suddenly, the doorbell chimed.

Nell jumped and checked her watch. 'Goodness. Eric was a little off in his time estimation. That must be them. Come on, put some clothes on and come down. The sooner you get this over with, the better.' She bounced out of the room.

'How can she be so _happy_?' Kensi moaned, dropping back down into the bed.

'Well, in her defence, she's been awake for about eight hours,' I said, fighting back an exclamation of pain as I slowly rotated my sore shoulder.

Kensi sighed heavily before hobbling to her foot. 'Ow,' she groaned.

'I need to pee,' I informed no-one in particular before getting up and going into the bathroom.

'Well, I'm changing, so don't come out,' she replied, and I heard the familiar click of crutches as she slowly moved around.

'Okay.' I relieved myself and washed my hands, and waited a minute before asking, 'Am I okay to come out?'

'Um…'

'Kens? Is everything okay?' I could hear the slight tone of something being wrong in her voice.

'I, um… I can't put my clothes on.' As she spoke, there was the sound of a body hitting the bed. 'Ow. I literally can't remain upright to get my clothes on.'

'Do you need a hand?' I asked tentatively.

'Um… I think so. Yes.'

'I promise not to look,' I said, closing my eyes and opening the bathroom door.

'If you don't look, you won't be able to see to put the clothes on me.'

I still didn't open my eyes, and ran into one of her crutches, which fell over.

'Open your damn eyes, Marty!'

'Okay, okay.' I opened my eyes to find Kensi sitting in her underwear on the bed. Not something I thought I'd ever see, to be perfectly honest, so I took the chance to memorise the sight, the way her dark gold skin glowed, the way her body curved in all the right places, the way her long, dark hair spilled down her back and over her shoulders.

'You gonna stand there and stare all day?' she asked, completely aware of my ogling.

I decided to defend myself with honesty. 'Do you blame me for staring? You're honestly the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. You're absolutely stunning. If I have a chance to stare, I'm gonna take it.'

She looked away from me and blushed, the pink heat creeping up her neck. 'Thank you, I think,' she said softly. 'Um… Can you give me a hand?'

'Absolutely. What do you need?'

'That blue dress over there.' She pointed to it, laying over the arm of the armchair. 'I kept dropping it. I've got to be standing up to put it on, but that requires more arms than I've got at the moment.'

'You need a pair to keep you upright, and another to put the dress on. Lucky you've got me.'

'I'm very lucky to have you,' Kensi said lowly, and I didn't know what she was referring to until I saw her staring at the scars on my chest.

With cops waiting for us downstairs, I didn't have the time to comfort her now, but I resolved to hug her later. 'Come on. What do you need me to do?'

'If you can hand me the dress, I can put it on if you kind of… hold me upright?'

'Sure.' I left off the lewd comment that I was sure she was expecting, and instead retrieved the soft, sky blue cotton dress, bringing it to her.

Slowly, she got to her feet, and put a hand on my shoulder to steady herself as she tentatively put pressure on her bad leg. Immediately, she hissed and picked the foot back up, leaning on me, placing her other hand on my other shoulder. I bit back a pained yell, but she saw the pain in my face and immediately snatched her hand away. I put my hands on her waist to steady her, and we paused in this strange position.

'Kind of feels like we should be dancing,' I joked softly.

'Not until my leg's better, thanks,' she replied, smiling at me before pulling the dress over her head. I briefly let go of her waist to let the dress fall to her knees as it was supposed to, grabbing onto her hands to stop her from falling over and hurting something else.

'You good?' I asked, watching as she favoured her good leg.

'Yeah. Can you grab my crutches for me?'

I snatched them up and handed them to her before pulling on a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt. 'Come on. Let's not keep my colleagues waiting.'

She laughed and allowed me to help her limp down the stairs, where Nell was entertaining two policemen who immediately recognised me the moment we walked in. Which meant that my cover was blown to the skies.

Thankfully, they assumed that I was undercover. Which meant that they waited for me to make the first move. I didn't make them hang for too long.

'It's okay, guys. They work for NCIS.'

The two policemen relaxed visibly.

'Detective Marty Deeks. Never thought I'd see you undercover in the suburbs,' one said, grinning and shaking his head. Rory, I remembered. His name was Rory.

'Well, I do a lot of things now that I'm with NCIS. One of them includes working with beautiful women. Hey, Rory, you mind not ogling my "wife"?' I asked him.

'Sorry. I'm assuming she's NCIS, though, because she's way too hot for you,' Rory laughed.

'Compliment accepted,' Kensi said with a small smile. 'I'm NCIS Special Agent Kensi Blye.'

'Nell Jones, Intelligence Analyst,' Nell introduced.

'What happened last night, then? Was it part of your cover? Getting hit by a car?' the other policeman asked. Theodore, I remembered. His wife called him Teddy. The rest of us called him Theo.

'God, no,' Kensi said, easing herself down into an armchair. 'That was an utter and complete stuff-up.'

'We honest to God did not mean to get Kensi hit by a car,' Nell informed them. 'How is Mr Lark? Do you know?'

'According to the doctors, he's responding well to treatment. However, he's still out of it.'

'What happened to him?' Kensi asked. 'I feel so guilty.'

'It had nothing to do with you,' I assured her. 'You were just crossing the road. He was the one that accelerated suddenly.'

'Have you thought that perhaps he hit Agent Blye on purpose?' Theo asked.

'Yes,' I immediately said.

At the same time, Kensi said, 'No.'

We looked at each other.

'You know, the key to a happy marriage is communication,' Rory joked.

'We haven't had a chance to communicate much since last night. We've both been out of it. Exhausted.'

'You thought this?' Kensi asked me. 'You thought that he could've hit me on purpose?'

'That's why I said I wanted to take the first watch. To make sure that no-one else was coming because our cover had been blown.'

'You thought that because I was injured, I wouldn't be able to defend us.'

'No. You could defend NCIS with both hands tied behind your back,' I said, shaking my head. 'I wanted you to… just not be there. I wanted you out of harm's way in case our cover had been blown. There's no sense in both of us getting killed, and seeing as you're NCIS's golden girl while I'm the LAPD reject…'

'That's not true, Deeks,' Theo objected. 'You're very valued at LAPD. You got rid of the mole.'

'With NCIS's help,' Kensi muttered, a little darkly, which I knew was aimed at the fact that she was left out of the plan, which she hadn't liked. 'He'd be a better NCIS agent.'

'Well, we can't comment on _that_, having not seen Deeks in action as an NCIS agent.'

'I can honestly say that he's a damn good one,' Nell said honestly, as she was prone to do.

'Can we stop talking about me and get on with the talking about the car accident?' I asked awkwardly.

'Sure. Were you drinking last night, Agent Blye?' Theo asked Kensi.

Kensi shook her head. 'No. My colleagues _were_ drinking, and I figured that one of us had to stay clear headed in case we _were_ attacked by terrorists.'

'Okay.'

'What about Mr Lark?' I asked.

Rory shook his head. 'No. Not him. Didn't even find any booze in his house. According to his family, he's a reformed alcoholic. And we had his blood tested – all clean.'

'Is there any reason to suspect that he was purposely aiming for Kensi?' I asked.

'If I didn't know that you guys were undercover, I'd say no. However, there is the distinct possibility that Mr Lark is a mole for a terrorist organisation and he purposely attacked Agent Blye after blowing your cover,' Theo said.

'But wouldn't the rest of the terrorist organisation have struck last night, then?' Kensi asked.

I answered this. 'No way. When we left, the place was crawling with police, fire-fighters and paramedics. That's _way_ too risky.'

'So they're going to try another time?' Nell asked, sighing.

'Maybe. _You're_ the intelligence analyst. You tell us,' Kensi said to her.

Suddenly, a cell phone rang and Nell jumped. 'That's mine.' She checked the screen. 'Hetty. I'll take this in the kitchen.' She got up and walked out.

'Hetty. That wouldn't be Henrietta Lange, would it?' Rory asked.

Kensi smiled. 'Yup.'

Theo shivered. 'Bates is hell scared of her. He said to us to steer clear of the NCIS agents undercover here.'

I snorted. 'Great work. You're sure for a recommendation. You did really well at the "steering clear of the undercover NCIS agents".'

Rory shook his head. 'How were we supposed to know that _you_ were the undercover NCIS agents? We got the names Kensi and Marty Johnson. The only records we've got for Kensi Johnson is a couple of parking tickets under her maiden name, and the records for Marty Johnson we've got are an ex-cop with plenty of medals and commendations. Who no-one seems to remember, which is a pity cos he's been gone for only a year. Although it makes a whole lot more sense now. He doesn't exist.'

'Well, he does. He's me.'

'But that means that he doesn't exist. Because he's you.'

'This is a paradox. He _does_ exist, because he's you, but he _doesn't_ exist, because he's you,' Theo said, shaking his head.

'Don't start with paradoxes and oxymorons and that stuff. I'm not awake enough yet,' Kensi grumbled.

'Here, Kens.' Nell came back into the room holding a glass of water. She handed it to Kensi along with the small packet of painkillers that she'd been prescribed.

'Oh, thank you,' Kensi said to her before quickly swallowing a pill.

'What'd you do?' Rory asked.

'Twisted my knee, bruises all up my side. Stings like a bitch.' She shook her head as if to try and shake the pain off.

'Well,' Theo said, getting up, 'I hope you heal up quickly and close this case soon. We better get going.'

Rory nodded and smiled. 'We'll keep you updated.'

'You'll make sure to notify us if something comes up?' Kensi asked them.

'Of course. And vice versa?' Theo asked.

'Yup,' I agreed.

'Well, good luck, Deeks,' Rory said, smiling at me. 'Hope you get your terrorist.'

'You and me both,' I muttered.

Both men smiled, and then left.

Kensi sighed and collapsed back onto the couch. 'Can I go back to sleep now?'

'Hetty's asked me to come back in,' Nell said, holding up her phone. 'Am I right to leave you guys?'

'Yeah, we'll be fine. Thanks, Nell,' I said gratefully.

'Cool. I'll leave, then.'

'I'll walk you out.' I walked her out to her car, a tiny red Mini Cooper.

'So, how's the violin practice going?' she asked softly, a small smile playing on her lips.

'It's going, I guess. I'm really bad, though. I haven't practised in so long.'

'By anyone else's standards, I'm sure that you'd be brilliant.'

'Except a master musician.'

'Which no-one we know is.'

'Except probably Hetty.'

'Except probably Hetty,' Nell agreed. 'But what's the likelihood of her hearing you play?'

'Considering the fact that you covered the entire house in…' I paused before whispering the next part. '…cameras and microphones? Very likely, if not certain.'

'Oh. Right. That.'

'I'm thinking that I should just-'

'Give the whole thing up?' Nell finished my sentence.

'You know, it's not just Eric that finds that annoying, and yes, give it up.'

'Marty Johnson, _you promised me_.'

I groaned. 'Some promises just can't be upheld. You know, like, fifty per cent of all "til death do us part" promises are broken. I should've been a divorce lawyer. Then I'd never be in this mess, because I never would've met any of you.'

'Don't you dare say that you regret meeting Kensi, Marty, because you don't.'

'Of course I don't. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me.'

'Anyway, you probably would've ended up meeting her. She probably would've hired you so that she could divorce Jack.'

I snorted. 'Nope. It would've been _way_ messier than that.'

She laughed. 'You're probably right. Bye, Marty.'

'Bye, Nell.' Nell got into the car and drove away.

I stood on the driveway for a few quiet moments until Kensi's voice drew me from my reverie.

'Marty?'

'Yeah, Princess?'

She grinned sheepishly at me from the doorway. 'I'm hungry.'

I laughed. 'Then let's get you something to eat.'

'Cool.'

…

**Isn't Deeks sweet, trying to protect Kensi? Of course, we shouldn't expect anything less from our noble, brave Deeks.**

**Goodness, it has been a while, hasn't it? My only excuse is life – it caught up with me and decided to prevent me from writing. Oh, well. I updated now, and that's what's important, right?**

**Please review – I heart reviews!**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – Deeks

'Thank you.' She gave me a sunny smile as I placed a loaded plate of reheated leftovers in front of her. She's so easy. Feed her and she's yours, at least for a little while. Or maybe that's only me.

'No problem.' I put my own plate down, considerably less loaded with oily, gooey, unhealthy leftovers and containing considerably more salad leaves than hers.

She yawned widely before snapping her jaw shut like a cat.

'Those meds putting you to sleep, Kens?' I asked.

'Well, your stimulating conversation sure isn't keeping me awake,' she said dryly.

'Thanks,' I replied, feigning hurt. I noticed that she was staring at me. 'What?'

'What? Huh?'

'You're staring at me. Do I have something on me? Lettuce between my teeth?'

'Uh, no. You're fine. Nothing on your face.'

'Then why are you staring at me?'

She shrugged. 'Tired, I guess.'

'Do you want a soda?' I asked.

'Um, sure, I guess.'

I got up and dug in the crowded fridge, finally emerging with two Cokes. 'I think you better lay off the alcohol for a little while, seeing as you're on those pain meds.'

'Good thought,' she replied, cracking open the can and sipping at the liquid inside.

'I s'pose this counts as a late lunch?' I asked, stabbing a lettuce leaf with his fork and biting a chunk out of it.

She checked her watch. 'Very late.'

'I think I might check on David and Emily later,' I informed her. 'Maybe take on the role of the outraged husband, poke as much information out of him as possible?'

'That actually sounds like a good plan,' she said, grinning at me before stuffing as much food as she could into her mouth.

'Slow down,' I said, knowing that an amused smile was on my face. She really was hungry – not that I blamed her; it'd been at least seven hours since breakfast.

'I'm hungry,' she protested, her mouth half full. I ate for a little while, but soon put my knife and fork down. 'Are you done?' she asked, shocked.

'I'm not as hungry as I thought I'd be. Also, if I eat much more, I'll end up falling asleep again.'

She giggled. 'I think that's what I want.'

'Then go back to sleep.' I smiled at her and stood up. 'I'll see you later, yeah?'

'Yeah,' she agreed, already trying the blink away the tiredness.

I sculled the last of my Cola and then briefly kissed her on the cheek. 'Try not to miss your hubby too much, sweetheart.'

Kensi rolled her eyes. 'Go on, go play the aggrieved husband.'

'A role I play well. Good night, Kens.'

She grinned lazily up at me. 'Good night, Marty.'

'Don't eat too much,' I warned her before sliding my feet into my flip flops and going outside.

Once in the sunshine, I felt a lot more awake, and I crossed the street and prepared myself, running my hand through my hair and arranging my face into a suitably annoyed expression. I rang the doorbell, and folded my arms, arranging myself into a suitably hostile pose.

'Coming!' Emily's voice called, and finally she opened the door. 'Oh! Marty! We didn't expect you today.'

'I need to speak to your husband,' I said coldly, slipping easily into an ex-cop/protective-husband role.

'Oh, of course. Come in. Would you like a cup of coffee?' Emily offered.

'No, thank you.'

'Oh, okay. Um… David! Marty's here. He wants to speak to you!' Emily called into the recesses of the house.

'Coming!' he called back, and we heard footsteps thudding. He appeared at the top of the stairs. 'Sorry, I was just reading to Jess. She loves being read to.' He clocked the expression on my face. 'Uh… is everything okay, Marty?'

'The police just visited,' I said, injecting a small amount of hostility and annoyance into my tone.

'Yes, I saw the car in your driveway,' he replied. 'I s'pose they wanted to talk to you about the incident.'

'You're not wrong.'

'Please, come and sit down,' Emily invited, and David led me into a small sitting room, just two chairs, a loveseat and a fireplace.

I sat down on one of the chairs.

'Did the police give you unexpected news?' David asked.

'News, yes. Unexpected… slightly. You remember, yesterday morning, you told me of a terrorist threat?'

'Yes,' he said slowly.

'The police just informed me of the same thing. Said that perhaps Mr Lark had been aiming for you – missed, hit Kensi?' I accused, getting angrier and angrier by the word.

'Shit,' David swore. 'I never thought of that.'

'Well, they did. And it's sounding more and more reasonable by the minute. You said you wouldn't take NCIS protection? Why not?' I snapped. 'If you had, Kensi wouldn't be hobbling around on crutches because she was hit by a car!' I stood up, hands fisted. I didn't have the fake the anger – I was truly angry because of Kensi's injury.

David stood up too. 'I don't want NCIS protection, because in three weeks, they won't be there to protect us, and I'll just be taken later rather than sooner!'

'David!' Emily cried out, and somewhere in the house, little baby Jessica started crying. 'Excuse me,' she said, dashing away tears, and left the room.

'Old Mr Lark doesn't work for terrorists. He gives out candy every year to the kids,' David said, shaking his head.

'Ever heard of a sleeper agent?' I hissed. 'He could have lived in this neighbourhood his entire life, just waiting for a call. And he got it. And he got himself in hospital and hit my _wife_ with a car! All because you didn't let them protect you because of your _pride_.'

'You son of a bitch.' And he didn't say much more after that, because he let his fists do the talking. And punched me square in the jaw.

Let's just say, I don't just stand there and allow myself to be attacked. I recovered quickly, although still smarting from the blow (hey, after getting into an MMA fight with Sam, I learnt that when fighting against a Navy guy, the only way to stay upright was to recover quickly) and punched him back in the eye. He yelled out in pain and tackled me into the loveseat. I returned the blow by punching him in the guts, and wished that Kensi were here to kick him in the nuts for me (I'm a guy, I can't deliver such a cruel blow). Things quickly escalated, and before I knew it, Aaron was in the house and pulling us apart. My jaw ached, and the rest of my body smarted as well. David was sporting a bloody nose, and he glared at me as he wiped blood from his jaw.

'I think you should leave, Marty,' Aaron said softly, and I wrenched my arm out of his grip before stalking out without a word. At this point, I realised that the noise of our fight had attracted the attention of the entire neighbourhood, and it felt like everyone and his brother was watching me cross the street. I just prayed that Kensi had been asleep, and hadn't heard the commotion.

No such luck.

I pushed open the gate, and found her standing on the porch, staring worriedly at me.

'Oh, my God, Marty!'

I guess I looked a sight, all bruised and probably covered in David's blood. My shoulder _really_ hurt now, after using it to punch a fairly well built man.

'Are you alright?' she asked, wide-eyed.

I went silently into the house, and she followed me into the kitchen, where I got out a pack of frozen peas and wrapped it in a tea towel before putting it against my sore jaw.

'If I'd known that you were going to get into a fight with him, I would've stopped you from going,' she said softly.

'If _I'd_ known that I was going to get into a fight with him, I would've gladly stayed home,' I replied before slowly moving my jaw to the left and right, and then up and down.

'I'm calling Hetty. You look really bad, Deeks.' She hobbled over to the landline.

'Hey, you should see the other guy,' I joked weakly before sitting down at the kitchen table.

She glared at me. 'Not funny, Marty.' The phone must have been picked up on the other end, because she said, 'Hetty, it's me. Marty got into a fight with Paulson. You should get over here. He looks pretty beat up.'

Hetty must've answered affirmative, because Kensi hung up the phone and sighed before hobbling over and taking the seat next to mine. She reached over and covered the hand I was using the support the peas with her own.

'You shouldn't have done that,' she said reproachfully, slowly easing the peas away from my face so that she could survey the damage. She hissed as she saw the bruise. 'Paulson doesn't pull his punches.'

'He sure doesn't,' I replied.

She gently touched the bruise, and I stilled beneath her warm, soft fingers, afraid of startling her away.

'That hurt a lot?' she asked.

'You've been punched before. What do you think?' I asked.

She smiled. 'I'm thinking it hurt a fair bit.'

'Good guess.'

She put the peas back before moving her hands to the hem of my t-shirt. 'Arms up,' she demanded, slowly lifting the shirt.

'Kensi, I've never said this before, but this really isn't a good time to ravish me,' I joked.

'Shut up, smart ass,' she replied, shaking her head as she pulled the shirt over my head and put it on the table. 'You're going to be stiff tomorrow morning.'

'So many jokes, so little time,' I sighed.

'Shut up, Deeks,' she said again, shaking her head. She reached out and softly touched a bruise that was forming over one of the scars from my shooting.

There was a knock on the door.

'That'll be Hetty,' she said, gathering her crutches. 'You – stay put, okay?' She put a hand on my head for a moment before sighing heavily and shuffling to the door.

Four people came back into the kitchen.

'What are you guys doing here?' I asked Callen and Sam.

'The better question, Mr Deeks, is what the hell were you doing attacking the man who you're supposed to be protecting?' Hetty scolded. 'Honestly. If I'd known you were going to get into a fight, I would never have put you on this assignment.'

'The amount of times that's been said already,' I said softly. 'In my defence, he attacked first.'

'If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that,' Hetty said, shaking her head and taking Kensi's seat. 'Alright, then, let's see the damage.'

'Is any of that blood yours?' Callen asked, eyeing my discarded t-shirt.

'No. His. I gave him a bloody nose,' I replied.

'You managed to hold your own in a fight against an ex-Navy man?' Sam asked. 'I hate to admit it, but I'm impressed, and surprised.'

'I held my own in a fight against _you_,' I pointed out. 'You shouldn't be _that_ surprised.'

'He's right, you know,' Callen pointed out.

'What's the damage?' Hetty asked briskly, putting a hand to my head and turning to so that she could see my jaw bruise more clearly.

'Ooh,' Sam hissed. 'That's gonna hurt like hell in the morning.'

'You look like _you_ were the one that was hit by a car,' Callen said. 'Comparatively, Kensi looks completely healthy.'

'Thanks,' she said dryly.

'You're welcome.'

I sighed and put the makeshift icepack back against my jaw. 'Can you give me a clean bill of health, Hetty?'

She sighed. 'Any hits to the back? Kidneys?'

'Nope. I got taught well. Never present my back to the enemy.'

'You're not bleeding – I don't see how you could've gotten a concussion.'

'I didn't pass out,' I put in helpfully.

She gave me a look before putting a hand to my ribs and palpitating.

'Youch!' I yelped.

'Badly bruised ribs,' she noted. 'But no breaks, no fractures. I think you'll be okay. Severely sore, but okay to continue the mission.'

'Thanks,' I grunted, and pulled my shirt back on.

'We should get back,' Callen said, checking his phone after it buzzed. 'Nell just texted me – there's a lead that she needs us to check out.'

'Alright. You both rest up, okay?' Hetty asked, patting me on the hand like a kind, maidenly aunt. 'And keep an eye out for anything unusual.'

'It's the 'burbs. We don't know what's unusual and what's not,' Kensi pointed out.

'Then report what you _think_ is unusual,' Sam pointed out dryly.

Callen's phone buzzed again. Without checking it, he said, 'That's Nell again.'

'We'll probably talk tomorrow, yeah?' Sam said before patting me somewhat softly on the shoulder and trudging out of the house.

'Bye, guys.' Callen nodded before leaving.

'Remember to take your meds,' Hetty said to Kensi before patting me softly on my sore shoulder and leaving behind Callen.

Kensi sighed and took her seat back.

'Tired again?' I asked.

'No. Worried.'

'Worried that I might just have blown the assignment?'

'Yeah.'

'I'll apologise tomorrow. I promise.'

She nodded. 'You'd better.'

'Or you'll beat me up?'

'You wish,' she snorted before sighing. 'I'm hungry, and I don't want leftovers again.'

'You're demanding food, aren't you?' I asked, smiling at her.

'Uh huh. After making me worried, you owe me,' she replied, narrowing her eyes at me.

'Okay. What do you want?'

She tilted her head and tapped at her bottom lip thoughtfully before beginning her order. And that's when I knew that she'd forgiven me.

…

**How could anyone stay mad at Deeks? Especially when he beat up the guy who's the reason that you've been hurt. **

**Pretty please review.**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 – Kensi

I lay on the couch, my left leg propped up on the arm of the couch while my right dangled, almost touching the floor. Deeks sat behind/underneath me so that he worked as a good cushion, propping my head into a good angle to watch the TV.

He laughed at the man on the television, the plucky comic relief, who was oh-so-cockily proposing that the hottest woman go out with him.

He moved the melting icepack away from his jaw. 'It never works. The hero gets the hottest one, while the plucky partner gets her less hot friend.'

I looked up at him, tilting my head back so that I could see his face. 'Is that so?'

'Uh huh. I would've thought that you would've watched enough of these rom-coms to know that by now.'

'And how would _you_ know that?' I asked curiously, returning my attention to the movie.

'Ray forced me to go with him with the hottest one while I was stuck entertaining her friend. It wasn't that bad, actually. Most of the time, it turned out that the friend had more brains than the hot one, so we had decent conversation, while Ray got bored out of his brains listening to the hot one go on and on about the leading man in the movie.' Deeks chuckled. 'Poor old Ray. He learned his lesson eventually, I guess. Jenna's got brains and looks, which is more than you could say for Nicole.'

'What about me? Am I the less hot but smarter one?' I asked curiously.

'Are you kidding me? You're hot _and_ smart. I can stare wordlessly at you for hours on end _and_ I can have an intelligent conversation with you. You're like the best of both worlds.'

I laughed, and he laughed too, reaching for the bowl of popcorn I had resting on my belly and scooping up a handful.

'I guess you're going to make me go and apologise to David Paulson tomorrow, aren't you?' he asked softly.

'If I don't, Hetty will,' I replied, tilting my head back again to catch his reaction.

He laughed dryly. 'That doesn't surprise me.'

I yawned widely, snapping my jaw shut afterwards, and he smiled again.

'Even when you yawn, you're violent,' he observed.

'Shut up,' I said, reaching up to whack him in the shoulder.

'You're not helping your case any,' he replied, grinning at me before replacing the icepack against his jaw, carefully holding it there with one hand while the other shook off the condensation before re-swapping hands.

'Are you okay?' I asked softly.

'Nothing some time won't fix,' he replied.

I smiled, and he smiled back, and we both returned our attention to the movie.

::

Two weeks passed in that manner. Deeks' bruise went from being red, to a disturbing yellow-green that shouldn't have been possible on his golden-tan skin tone, to an ugly purple-blue that he assured me looked worse than it actually was. Finally, it faded, along with the other marks of his clash with Paulson.

I'd slowly been weaned off of the painkillers and the crutches, my knee slowly de-swelling and returning to its original size and colour. The bruises from the car had been gone long before it, and it was a relief to only have to rely on a polished mahogany walking stick, a present from Hetty, and almost be able to put all of my weight on my left leg.

Mr Lark, however, remained steadfastly in a coma, and we were starting to come to the point of view that he wouldn't be any help in this case.

Two agents had searched his house, and had come up with nothing. Similarly, background checks into him and everyone around him gave us nothing to work with. It was starting to look as if his hitting me was just an accident – coincidence.

Deeks and Paulson "made up", as it were, both acknowledging that there was fault on both sides.

Deeks came to bed late every night after practising his violin for a solid two hours every night – I started to think that he was practising for a sold out concert, or something, the night that he didn't come to bed at all until almost sunrise. But, as I promised Nell, I didn't say a word, and when Deeks did pull occasional all-nighters, I shut off the alarm when I got up in the morning and allowed him to sleep.

It could almost be said that life undercover in the 'burbs was… good.

Deeks and I were getting quite used to being "married". We avoided kissing as much as possible – there was nothing quite like a kiss to muddy the waters in what usually was a crystal clear partnership (or at least, that's what Hetty said, although she quickly changed her tune when she remembered that she was dealing with Deeks and I, not Callen and Sam, the golden boys). At times, though, it couldn't be avoided, and I couldn't help reacting to the electric shock caused by our touching lips – and once we started kissing, it took a very loud sound to shake us apart.

I liked kissing him. And that was… worrying.

_He_ liked cooking for me. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, waffles, fruit salad, yogurt, or muesli could be on the breakfast table when I came down each morning, half asleep. Sandwiches, fries, salads of every variety appeared on the lunch table. All sorts of things appeared at dinner – pasta, pizza, roasts of every animal, always followed by some sort of desert, some healthier than others. Because of this, and my inability to exercise much, I'd put on a couple of pounds. Much to Deeks' credit, he hadn't said a word, mostly because he was the cause of it – and because he valued his life.

Beside me, Deeks yawned widely, and the bed shifted as he stretched.

'Morning,' he muttered, his voice thick with the lack of use.

'Morning,' I replied. He _always_ knew if I were awake or not.

'Sleep well?' he asked, shifting and draping a lazy arm over my waist.

'Deeks,' I growled, though inwardly thrilling at the feel of his warm arm pulling me closer to him.

He paid no attention to the threatening tone, and tucked me close to him, wrapping his arms around me and nuzzling his face into my hair.

'You're not my husband,' I reminded him softly.

'And you're not my wife. I'm well aware of that.'

'Then why are you crossing the line between partners and…'

'Marriage? Because this partnership is like a marriage sometimes.'

'How is it like a marriage?'

'You're like my work-wife. And since we've been partnered, you've been the most _constant_ thing in my life.'

'Except for the constant flow of women.'

'Well, you're even more constant than them. They drop out every few months. You're always there.'

'Except for when I'm chasing my father's murderer.'

'That only happened once. And you didn't get too badly hurt.'

I blinked at him. 'I got shot.'

'You got almost shot. The vest protected you.'

'It almost didn't.'

'But it did.'

'What if it hadn't?'

'But it did.'

'But what if it hadn't?'

'But. It. Did.'

I burst into laughter. 'We really _are_ a married couple, aren't we?'

'Uh huh.' He chuckled too. 'You want bacon for breakfast?'

'No. I want fruit salad. With lots of strawberries. And muesli.'

He blinked. 'That's extraordinarily healthy, Kens.'

'I'm putting on weight,' I finally admitted. 'And don't act like you haven't noticed!'

'_Well_,' he started, but I clapped a hand over his mouth before he could continue.

'I really don't need to hear it,' I said to him before removing my hand.

'If it makes you feel better, honey, your butt doesn't look big in my t-shirt.'

'Shut up,' I said, swatting at him.

He laughed and rolled out of bed. 'Fruit salad and muesli it is,' he declared. 'Are you sure you don't want a side order of bacon?'

I threw a pillow at him. I think he got the message, because he left the room as quickly as possible.

I sighed and slowly got out of bed, retrieving the pillow and roughly making the bed, tugging the blankets up around it. I picked up a bright yellow and orange coloured sundress and put it on before brushing my hair and teeth. I looked at myself in the mirror, and once I figured that I was presentable, I went downstairs.

Deeks was on the phone. 'Uh huh.' A knife lay abandoned on a cutting board next to a partially dismembered watermelon. 'Yeah, no, we know. We've got three days and we still haven't had a chance to catch them. Briefing today? What time? Okay, I'll let Kensi know.' He gave me a quick grin, and held up four fingers. Four o'clock. 'Alright, we'll see you then. Bye.' He hung up. 'Briefing here, at four this afternoon. We're not allowed to leave the house.'

I blinked. 'I thought we needed food? Grocery shopping? No?'

'Hetty's sending Nell grocery shopping for us, and she'll deliver them at the briefing.'

'Why the house arrest, though?'

'Uptick in chatter, apparently. Something about the next three days, which I can believe considering we've only got three days left.'

'Three more days undercover,' I said reflectively.

'Three more days with my wife-y,' he said with a grin.

'Food,' I said, pointing at the chopping board.

He grinned and returned to the watermelon. 'I'll miss cooking for you,' he said, chopping the melon into small cubes.

'I won't miss these dresses,' I said, picking at the skirt of the one I was wearing.

'I will,' he said with a wicked grin.

'Shut up,' I said, shaking my head.

'Has that ever worked, Kens?'

'Not that I remember.'

'So why do you keep trying?'

'I keep hoping that one day you'll listen.'

Suddenly, someone rapped brightly on the front door.

'Kens, were you expecting someone?' Deeks asked, raising an eyebrow.

'No,' I said slowly. 'Were you?'

'No…'

'I'll get it,' I volunteered.

'Yup.' He nodded absently and I headed to the front door. I peered cautiously out of the pane of glass, but no-one was there. I opened the door, but the only thing on the doormat was a simple, small cardboard box.

'Huh.' I squatted carefully, making sure to put the majority of my weight onto my good leg, and carefully pried the box open. To find it full of wiring, and a good amount of C4.

'Bomb!' I screamed, and sprinted into the house, slamming the door behind me.

'What?' Deeks asked, appearing in the doorway.

'Down!' I shrieked before tackling him to the floor moments before the bomb exploded.

Fragments of door and window-pane and even chunks of wall flew past our heads.

A dull ringing sounded in my ears, and I grew aware of Deeks' arms surrounding me. Faintly, I heard him whisper 'Kensi? Kens, are you okay?'

'Huh?' I asked, and my voice sounded overly loud.

I looked at him, and his mouth moved, but only a low, fuzzy buzzing came out.

'What?'

This time, I read his lips. 'Kens, are you okay? Can you hear me?'

'No,' I answered, and he cut off the smart-ass answer ('Then how can you reply?') and knew that I'd read his lips. 'Are you okay?'

He held up his arm. 'Carpet burn.' There were indeed long, red carpet burns up his forearms. 'Kens, the blast must have hurt your ears.'

'No kidding, Sherlock,' I said bluntly.

Suddenly, he looked up. 'Your cell is ringing.'

'Do you really think I can answer it?' I asked.

'Oh. I'll get it.' He got up and answered it, answering a few questions before hanging up. He said something that I didn't catch.

'What?'

'Hetty and Callen and Sam are on their way.' He reached out, and I allowed him to help me up.

Suddenly, two men burst into the house through the back door, and I saw that they were Aaron and David.

They began yelling, but I couldn't catch a glimpse of what they were saying.

Suddenly, I heard Deeks very clearly yell out 'Shut up!' He took hold of my arm and dragged me out the back door, into the fresh air.

I dropped onto the grass like a stone, and he followed closely after.

'Is it your knee?' he asked worriedly.

I shook my head. 'Knee's fine. I just don't like to put too much weight on it.'

'We've called an ambulance, and the police,' Aaron panted.

'Damage to the house?' I asked. Hetty was going to kill us.

'I think you're going to need a new front door,' David said, shaking his head. 'Damn. Something about you two attracts explosions.'

'That's not the first time that's been said about us,' I said dryly.

Deeks shook his head. 'Kensi's hearing's been damaged.'

'Then how can she understand us?' Aaron asked.

'I can read lips,' I said. 'And I don't appreciate being talked about like I'm not here.'

'Sorry,' he apologised. 'Wow, you guys have bad luck. How's your leg, Kensi?'

I flexed it carefully. 'I don't think I've done any more damage to it,' I said slowly.

'Come on,' David said, taking my hand and pulling me upright, where I could lean on Deeks. 'Let's get you two somewhere that's not on fire.'

'Great idea,' Deeks said, putting an arm around my waist and guiding me out of the yard.

::

**Oops. Another explosion. I'd like to say that it was an accident, but, uh… how can you claim that a bomb in a box on a doorstep is an accident? I don't think you can… Can you?**

**Please review. I love reviews.**

**There isn't going to be a Christmas story this year, so consider this your Christmas gift from me! However, I am working on a New Year's story. Trust me, there's going to be plenty of fireworks. XD**

**XD PurpleHipposRock – Merry Christmas!**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – Deeks

'Are you sure you're okay?' I asked worriedly, watching as Kensi slowly limped her way across the street to where Emily Paulson was hovering in wait, along with the rest of the neighbourhood that had been roused by the rather loud explosion.

'I'm fine, Marty,' she replied shortly. 'Don't baby me.'

'I know, you don't need it,' I replied softly. 'But just… lean on me? Please? For my peace of mind?'

She sighed and reached out and hooked her arm though mine. 'Happy?'

'Much,' I replied.

'How's the scrapes?' she asked.

'Stings a little. I've suffered worse with road rash,' I said, lifting my free arm to reveal the carpet burn.

'Poor baby,' she said, giving me a small smile as she carefully watched for my next words. I'd never been so thankful that she could read lips.

'You're lucky you landed on me,' I said, shaking my head. 'You bruised my butt.'

'Oh. Your poor little butt. You want me to kiss it better or something?'

'It'd be nice if you did,' I said honestly as we approached the Paulson's front yard.

Suddenly, the familiar purr of Sam's Challenger approached, and Sam pulled up outside the house. He and Hetty got out, and Hetty let Callen out of the backseat while Sam ran towards us.

'Are you okay?' he asked breathlessly.

'Huh?' Kensi asked. She'd missed the movement of his lips as he talked.

'He asked if we're okay,' I said, deliberately facing her. 'I think we're pretty okay,' I said to him. 'The explosion damaged her hearing. Thank God she's the one that can read lips, right? If it was me, we'd have loads of fun.'

'What about you, Marty?' Hetty asked.

'Some carpet burns. Kensi bruised my gluteus Maximus when she landed on it after we took a dive to save our asses from a nice little box with a big punch.'

'Are you okay?' Emily ran up to us, clutching a folding chair. 'Here, Kensi.' She unfolded it with a flourish, and Kensi eased herself down into it.

'There's a weird ringing in my ears,' she said, rubbing at them.

'That will go away,' Hetty assured her.

'I hope you're right,' Kensi said uncertainly.

'Oh, Marty, your arms!' Emily said, alarmed.

'They're just carpet burns,' I assured her. 'They'll be fine in a couple of days.'

'Here, come inside where you'll be more comfortable,' David said, motioning to his house.

'Of course,' Hetty said, patting Kensi on the arm.

'We called an ambulance, and the police, and the fire brigade will probably turn up considering that your house is still on fire,' Aaron said, motioning to it.

'Oh, come on,' Kensi sighed, spotting it. 'We haven't even been there for a month. We have the worst luck, Marty.'

'Tell me about it,' I said to her, helping her out of the chair and into the house, followed by David, Emily, Aaron, Callen, Sam and Hetty.

The now much too familiar sound of emergency sirens wailed, getting closer and closer before finally pulling up outside.

'I'll go co-ordinate with my _ex_-colleagues,' I said quietly to Hetty, who I could see was repressing a small smile at the stress on "ex".

'Be careful,' she said, almost so quietly that I almost missed it.

'Always am,' I replied giving her an easy grin.

I could _swear_ that she snorted at that.

Much to my relief, it was Rory and Theo that had turned up.

'Geez, Marty, you're real good at getting yourself and your girl into trouble,' Theo said, shaking his head. 'What happened here?'

'We got up this morning, someone rang the doorbell, Kensi went to answer it and found a box. She opens the box – finds wiring and C4. Screams "bomb" and we both hit the deck. Boom,' I informed them.

'Get Arson down here,' Rory said to a uniformed cop, one I didn't recognise. He noticed my scrutiny of the uniform. 'We made sure that these uniforms know you as ex-Detective Marty Johnson, not undercover hack slash part-time fed Detective Marty Deeks.'

'Shit. That bomb really did a number on the house.' Theo paused, thinking. 'NCIS got cameras around the place?'

I thought for a minute. 'There is one that is actually pointed out into the street. That could give us a lot.'

'It definitely could,' Rory agreed. 'Can you get NCIS on it? Do they got external access to the system?'

'That was our first order of business, yes. They can get into any computer, iPod, phone, television, stereo system in the house.'

'Then can you get them on it, please? You know how stretched thin we are, and this is technically their case too,' Theo said.

'Sure. Give me a moment.' I pulled out my phone and hit the second speed dial. 'Eric?'

'Hey Deeks. You and Kensi okay?' he asked.

'We're fine. Kensi's hearing's a bit… absent, at the moment, but she'll be okay. I hope. Hey, listen, you don't happen to have-'

'The footage from your front porch earlier this morning?' Eric finished for me.

'That's mildly creepy, dude. Okay, what do you got?' I asked.

'A woman. Pretty hot, too.'

'Did you get enough of her face for facial recognition?'

'You betcha. Going at your phone right now.'

'Thanks, Eric.' I checked my emails. Sure enough, one new one from Eric. I pulled it up. 'Bless people behind computers. And bless facial recognition. Maria Theroux.' I showed the picture to the police officers.

'Can we get a copy of that?' Rory asked, nodding to the phone.

'Yeah, sure.' I tapped the screen a few times, and Rory nodded when his phone signalled an incoming message.

'Have you made any progress on who hit your partner with the car?' Theo asked.

'None,' I said, shaking my head. 'So it's very possible that if they hit Kensi because they've broken her cover, they sent the bomb.'

Rory sighed. 'Is there a timeline on this assignment?'

'We've got literally three more days before Paulson finishes terminal leave and we can't legally protect him anymore.'

'Oh, God.' Theo sighed. 'Would it make your job easier or harder if we sent a patrol car past every now and then?'

'Harder,' I said immediately. 'Definitely harder. They'd get scared off, and the point is to catch them, not scare them off.'

'Alright. Just behave as normally, right?' he asked.

'Definitely. If you behave irregularly, they'll a rat,' I replied.

'Are you and your partner alright?' Rory asked.

'I think the bomb temporarily damaged Kensi's hearing. She can't hear anything below a scream. Thankfully, she reads lips, so it's not as bad as it could be.'

'And her knee?' Theo asked.

'She's getting better. Hobbling using a walking stick. I don't call her an old lady anymore because the last time I called her that, she stabbed me in the butt with her walking stick. She doesn't pull punches. Or jabs, as it turns out.'

Rory laughed. 'Good luck, man.'

I clapped him on the shoulder before moving away. 'Thanks.'

The next people I found was the two paramedics that had arrived with the police.

'Excuse me.'

'Yes?' The man lifted his head, and I was relieved to find that I recognised neither of them.

'My wife was in the explosion, she's sound in the way of scrapes and bruises, but she can't hear,' I said. 'She's in the house over there.'

'Thanks, sir. Were you in the explosion too?' the other paramedic asked.

'I just suffered some carpet burns from having to dive to the floor,' I informed him.

The paramedics eyed me carefully, but went without trying to persuade me that I needed looking over.

I sought the first fireman that I saw. 'Excuse me.'

The man turned around, and I realised that I recognised him. 'Marty!'

'Sh!' I clapped a hand over his mouth and looked around to see who was looking. Thankfully, no-one. 'Man, I'm undercover. I thought I told you to wait for me to greet you before you can call me by name.'

'You greeted me. You said "excuse me".'

'Oh, for God's sake.'

'Are you… under?'

'Yeah. Marty Johnson, nice to meet you. I'm married, I'm an ex-cop and someone's apparently trying to kill my wife. Can you tell me if it's going to be safe to live in my house?' I asked blandly.

I watched as he slowly digested the information before shaking his head. 'No, I can't tell you if it's safe to live in your house. I'll have to take you to my captain.'

'Then please, lead the way.'

He nodded and led me to a bald man who was in the process of removing his helmet.

'You the owner?' he asked gruffly, and my friend subsided with a small "bye".

'Yeah. Marty Johnson. What can you tell me?' I asked.

'Mr Johnson, you're going to have to find yourself a new place to live for a week,' he said, shaking his head. 'Structurally, the house is sound, but the front door and the doorframe have both been blown to smithereens. I don't think that it would be very _safe_ for you to live there, considering that someone appears to want you and whoever else is living there dead.'

'My wife. She opened the box.'

'Civilians,' he said gruffly. 'Well, the fire is out and the house is structurally sound, so you can go in and get your belongings, but I wouldn't advise living there.'

I sighed. 'I'll have to talk to my aunt.'

'Good luck with that, man.' He shook his head before walking away.

'Shit,' I said to no-one in particular.

'Potty-mouth,' an unexpected voice came from behind me.

I jumped. 'Sorry, Hetty.'

'I should think so,' she said, shaking her head. 'Well, what's the verdict, Marty?'

'Structurally sound, but not advisable,' I informed her. 'The door and doorframe have been blown to "smithereens", to quote the fireman. There's no security, Hetty. Anyone could walk in.'

Grimly, she nodded. 'Well, we'll just have to call off the operation and just position some agents outside in a car.'

'Damn it,' I muttered, shaking my head. 'Well, go break the news to my wife, yeah?'

'I believe she's being seen to by the paramedics you sent her way?' Hetty said, leading the way back to the Paulson's.

'Yeah,' I said, smiling slightly. 'She's mad at me, isn't she?'

'It's hard to tell who she's more angry at, you or the paramedics that are insisting on taking her pulse when she insists that the only problem is that she can't hear,' Hetty informed me, entering the house before me.

'Definitely Marty,' Sam said upon our entry to the living room. 'He caused the paramedic problem.'

'Honey?' I asked, trying a sheepish grin. She didn't hear me.

I stepped closer to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. 'Kens.'

She jumped before looking up. 'Oh. Marty.'

'How is she?' I asked the paramedic.

'I think after a few hours, she'll be alright,' the paramedic said, taking a pair of white latex gloves off. He patted her on the shoulder before picking up his bag. 'Good luck.'

He left and Kensi gave me a bright grin. 'My hearing's coming back already. I almost understood what Aunt Hetty was saying earlier.'

'That's good,' I said before hugging her tightly. 'Now, you're absolutely sure that that's the only thing wrong?'

'Absolutely,' she said after she'd figured out what I'd been saying. 'What's the verdict on the house?'

I sighed and took both her hands. 'You know how you said you absolutely adored the front door, with the diamond shaped frosted glass panelling in the middle?'

'Smithereens?' she asked hesitantly.

'Why is everyone using that word?' I asked.

'If the shoe fits… Can we live in the house?'

'Stability-wise, it's sound. However, considering that someone appears to be trying to kill you, and there's no door nor door frame, it's not going to be terrifically safe,' I said gently. 'We can't stay, honey.' This was my subtle way of telling her that we were going to have to scrap the op.

'Just for a few hours, right?' she asked, wide eyed.

'More like a few days, sweetheart,' I said gently.

'You could stay with us!' Emily exclaimed brightly. 'That wouldn't be a problem, right?' she asked, turning to her husband.

'If they don't mind being woken up in the middle of the night by Jess,' David said good humouredly, smiling.

'Not at all. Marty?' she asked me hopefully. I could basically _see_ Hetty inwardly smiling, knowing that it was all playing into her hands.

'If it wouldn't be too much trouble,' I said.

'Not at all,' Emily said, grinning widely.

'Well, that's settled,' David said, smiling. 'Come on, then, let's get your things.'

::

**And now they're exactly where they need to be. Anyone else think that Hetty had a hand in things there? Because everything always turns out the way she wants it to. Now if only she wanted Kensi and Deeks to get together…**

**Please review. They brighten my day so much!**

**Now, I never said that I was **_**good**_** at updating, did I? Sorry for the wait, and thank you to those who pestered me about it. You know who you are… As for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" I'm currently very blocked on that story at the moment, but it will eventually get finished. I know where I want it to go; I just don't know how to get there…**

**Thank you to all who review – please keep going, we're almost at 300!**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – Kensi

I lay in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room and watched as Deeks suspiciously peeked out of the window before sighing and getting into bed next to me.

He looked over at me and said, 'I guess this is as good as it gets, huh? Sleeping literally two doors over from the target.'

'Sh,' I said quietly. 'Don't let them hear you.'

'I'm mouthing it,' he said, smiling. 'Considering that you can't hear, I shouldn't really waste my voice.'

I smiled. 'That makes sense, I guess.'

'Tired?' he asked.

'Not really,' I replied after thinking. 'The adrenaline is still kind of pumping.'

'I know what you mean.'

I sighed and flopped onto my back.

He began humming a mindless tune. And I _heard_ it.

'Say something,' I said, picking my head up.

'I'm saying something,' he mouthed uncertainly.

'No, really properly say something,' I replied.

'Why?' he asked. And I heard it.

My eyes widened. 'I have never been so glad to hear your voice.'

His eyes widened. 'You can hear?'

'I can hear,' I confirmed. 'It's still a bit fuzzy, but I can hear.'

He grinned. 'You know, it's really hard to annoy you when you can't hear.'

'I was enjoying the peace,' I said dryly.

He looked over at me, suddenly serious. 'You think we can close this case successfully?'

'Sure,' I replied. 'When don't we, Deeks?'

'We still don't know Callen's name,' he said dryly.

'That's not technically a case,' I replied. 'And we're getting closer. Remember Romania?'

He nodded. 'I was so scared that we were all gonna die that day.'

I sighed and allowed my head to rest on his shoulder. 'Me too.'

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. 'But we're still here. And Hetty. And Callen. And Sam.'

'I hope Callen and Sam will be okay across the street,' I said softly.

'It's probably the best stakeout they've been on,' he replied, smiling. 'Staying in our house. Full of food, warmth. The only drawback is that they can't turn the lights on.'

'They've got torches.' I paused. 'They better not be going through my clothes.'

He laughed. 'Why? Have you got some naughty pieces that you've been hiding from me?'

'Hetty packed for my alias, remember? Newly married Kensi?'

He paused, and a smile lit up his face. 'Oh…'

'Shut up,' I muttered.

My phone buzzed underneath my pillow, and I picked it up. 'Callen found them,' I said, glumly showing him the text message.

He laughed softly. 'Tell him to get out of your wardrobe.'

'Oh, trust me, I did,' I said, shaking my head and putting the phone away.

He sighed. 'We should get some sleep, Kens.'

I nodded and reached over and turned off the light. 'Good night, Marty.'

In the darkness, I felt him kiss my hair. 'Night, Kens.'

::

I was woken by the sound of breaking glass. It was official – my hearing was mended.

Deeks was awake as well. 'Did you hear that?' he breathed, his arms tightening around me.

'Unfortunately,' I replied, glancing up at him in the darkness.

'Shit,' he muttered darkly. He rolled out of bed and peered out of the window. 'Oh, shit. That's not a car I've seen before.'

'Number plates?' I asked, already texting Eric.

The text shot back almost immediately. 'Stolen,' I said.

There was more breaking glass, and then a cry. A full blown fight broke out. Baby Jess started crying loudly.

'Oh, shit!' Deeks reached under the bed and tossed me first a bullet-proof vest, and then my Sig. I pulled it on and checked the gun. He handed me a couple of spare magazines, and I shoved them in the vest's pocket.

'Ready?' I asked, watching as he secured the vest over his bare torso.

'Ready,' he confirmed, taking hold of the doorknob. 'Three, two, one.' He threw the door open and we moved smoothly and silently into the hall. We could hear the sounds of a fight downstairs.

He led the way down the stairs, and we both knew that the fight was happening in the kitchen. Suddenly, though the bedroom door behind us opened. 'What-'

Emily was silenced when she saw us, holding guns and wearing vests.

'Emily,' I hissed. 'Grab Jess, and run. Go to our house, send the men there over here ASAP.'

'But what's going on?' she asked, bewildered.

'There's no time to explain, just go, and we'll save your husband. Go.'

Much to her credit, she stopped questioning and did so, and we heard the sound of her footsteps running out the backdoor under the cover of the fight.

'Ready?' Deeks asked softly.

'As I'll ever be,' I replied.

He motioned with three fingers, and then two, and then one. And yelled 'Go!'

'NCIS! Federal agents! Freeze!' I screamed, running into the kitchen. Good thing we did. It was four men against the one David, and although David defeated Goliath, David was having trouble against _these_ men.

They didn't freeze.

'Why don't they just freeze?' Deeks complained. 'They never just freeze.'

One raised an automatic machine gun and aimed it at us.

'Cover!' I screamed, and we both dived beneath a table.

'Point of business one,' Deeks panted. 'Take out that gun.'

We winced as it again fired.

'Agreed,' I said.

We looked at each other.

'I'll do it,' he said. 'My turn to get shot, remember?'

'How do you figure these things?' I asked. 'Together. Partners.'

'I love the way you talk,' he said. 'Together. Three, two, one, now!'

We both jumped up, and the man with the gun paused just for a moment, unsure as to which of us to shoot first. That hesitation cost him his life, as Deeks double-tapped his heart, while I double-tapped his head, just to make sure.

I jumped up onto the table that we'd taken cover behind, while Deeks shot off in search of Paulson. I took down one, and another, but before I could take down the last, he'd pulled his gun, and I thought he was going to shoot Paulson, but at the last minute changed directions and aimed at Deeks, who thought he'd moved unseen to behind a sofa.

And shot Deeks in the chest.

'Deeks!' I screamed, and quickly disposed of the last one. 'Deeks! Talk to me, you dumb bastard!' I clambered over an upturned china cabinet, and cursed the men in their eagerness to destroy, quickly kicking their weapons away from them, not caring if I kicked them too.

'That's not a very nice thing to say, Fern,' Deeks' voice said, and he pulled himself upright with a groan. 'Bless the inventor of Kevlar. No, I really mean it. I only wish I'd been wearing one when I'd been shot before.'

'You and me both,' I said, shaking my head and leaning over the couch, offering him a hand, which he took, and used to pull himself up. 'You good?'

He nodded. 'Bruises. I've had worse.'

'I know,' I said, letting go of his hand. 'Paulson, you okay?'

He stared at us with wide, confused eyes, his hair sticking up like something deranged. 'Who are you people?'

Suddenly, though, before we could make _real_ introductions, the sound of something beeping interrupted us.

'You have got to be kidding me!' Deeks groaned, before grabbing my hand and Paulson's arm. 'We've got to get out of here.' He began pushing us both towards the door, and we took the hint and began running. Behind me, I heard him say, 'Twice in one month? Who does that, really?' before the bomb that we heard beeping very violently blew up.

Callen and Sam, who had been halfway across the street, dove to the ground, covering their heads, guns thrown to the ground. Paulson had followed suit, while Deeks and I also hit the deck, and inwardly I groaned at the feel of the asphalt scraping my arms.

'Are you okay?' Deeks asked me softly, and I felt his hand on my arm.

I lifted my head and sighed. 'This job offers a bit too much microdermabrasion,' I quipped, lifting my arm and checking the impressive road rash.

'Honestly, who does that? Who goes to kidnap a guy and blows up his house?' Deeks asked, helping me to sit up so that we could survey the fiery remains of Paulson's house.

'Oh my God!' Paulson said, sitting up. 'My wife is in there! My child! Emily! Jess!' he screamed at the house.

'David?' The soft voice was behind us, and we all turned around to see a badly frightened Emily clutching a quiet, but wide awake Jess.

'Emily? Jess?' The tenderness in Paulson's voice was almost heartbreaking. We watched him run to them and hug them as close as he possibly could. 'But how…? You were in the house.'

'We weren't,' Emily told him gently. 'Marty and Kensi told me to get out.'

'But…' He turned back to us and stared at us, with our guns and vests clearly claiming our belonging to NCIS. 'Who are you people?' He pointed at Deeks. 'You are no ex-cop. And you – you are so not a housewife,' he said to me.

Deeks chuckled softly. 'Special Agent Kensi Blye, willingly being a housewife? I'd pay good money to see that.'

'Shut up, Deeks,' I said, shaking my head and feeling so glad that I could actually say his name again.

'I'm going to assume that you guys aren't really married,' Emily said, bouncing tiny Jess in her arms.

'Uh, no,' Callen said, getting to his feet slowly. 'Damn. I'm getting too old for this stuff.'

'If those two get married, hell might as well freeze over, and pigs will start growing wings and flying,' Sam informed them.

'Great. And who are they, exactly?' Emily asked.

Deeks chuckled as Paulson helped him to his feet. 'Special Agent in Charge G. Callen. Senior Special Agent Sam Hanna. Junior Special Agent Kensi Blye. LAPD liaison Detective Marty Deeks.'

'Oh,' said Emily. 'That explains… a lot.'

'Hey,' Deeks said, giving me a hand up. 'You sure you're okay?'

'Absolutely,' I said, giving him a small smile. 'I've suffered worse sparring with Sam.'

'Good,' he said before wrapping me in his arms and sighing.

'You gonna kiss her, Deeks, or are we just gonna have to keep watching you two dance around each other for another year?' Callen asked, interrupting the moment. 'After all, we all know that you're stuck…'

'Smitten…' Sam added.

'Whatever,' Deeks said, rolling his eyes. 'I'm pretty sure that if I kissed her, here and now, she'd punch me in the groin. I think I've kissed her enough for one op.'

'Agreed,' I said. I looked up at him. 'You know what I really want, right now, though?'

'What's that?' he asked easily.

'Pants.'

He looked down and gave me a smile. 'You know, I might just argue that.'

I punched him in the shoulder. 'Shut up, you pig.'

He gave me a fond smile. 'I've missed you.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Come on,' I said. 'Let's get inside.'

Suddenly, though, before we had a chance even to move, a bright red Mini Cooper zoomed into the street, with Hetty at the wheel, a wide-eyed Eric in the passenger seat and a queasy looking Nell in the back.

'Isn't that Nell's car?' Callen asked Hetty jokingly, opening the door for her.

'Yes, and thank you, Mr Callen,' Hetty said, getting out of the car.

Eric got out of the car, and you could see his hands shaking. Nell got out after him, and seemed only slightly more composed.

'I s'pose you aren't their Aunt Hetty,' Paulson said slowly, looking at Hetty.

Hetty shook her head. 'Operations Manager, Henrietta Lange. Technical Operator Eric Beale and Intelligence Analyst Nell Jones.'

'Of course,' Emily said dryly. 'What else could possibly make sense?'

Hetty looked Deeks and I over, before saying, 'You're alright.'

'You know us, Hetty,' Deeks said easily. 'No bomb is gonna take us out.'

Hetty shook her head. 'Cheeky detectives. Why is it the best ones are always _cheeky_?'

'I think you mean _cocky_,' I said tiredly before punching my partner in the shoulder.

'Wha-? I didn't say anything!' Deeks exclaimed, pouting and rubbing the sore spot.

'It's for what you were thinking about saying,' I replied, frowning at him before letting out a wide yawn. 'And don't deny it.'

'Well,' he drawled slowly.

'Ah!' I held up a finger to silence him. But when has that ever worked?

'But-'

'Ah!'

He let out a sigh that seemed to deflate him. 'Fine.' He pouted like a small boy denied a treat.

'Have you two always been like this?' Emily asked.

'Yes,' said Deeks, Callen, Sam, Hetty, Eric, Nell and I.

'And how long have you been together?' David asked.

'We aren't,' I immediately said.

'Yet,' Deeks added beneath his breath.

I immediately punched him again.

'Would you stop doing that?' he asked. 'Please? It hurts.'

'Then you really need to learn to shut up, Deeks,' I replied, shaking my head and wishing that I'd put on pants last night.

'I think you're both worn out, and need a good night's sleep to put things in perspective,' Hetty said, stepping between us to prevent further damage to her LAPD liaison.

Callen chuckled. 'A pity they're not gonna get that tonight, seeing as we've got a debrief to attend.'

Both Deeks and I let out groans.

'Can't it wait, Hetty?' Deeks asked.

'Please?' I added.

'I'm sorry, but these things need to be done as soon as possible. Barring the fact that one of you is hiding a serious injury from us, it should and will be done tonight.'

Deeks looked at me. 'Please be serious but not life threateningly injured,' he said.

'I could do that to _you_,' I offered.

He looked at Callen and Sam. 'Kinky, I tell you.'

Hetty sighed and shook her head at us. 'Come on,' she said, waving a hand at the cars. 'Time to go _home_.'

'Wifey?' Deeks offered me his arm with a small, lopsided smile.

I took it. 'Home?'

'Home.'

::

**Hang on a minute… The case has finished, and Kensi and Deeks aren't together yet… what shall I do…? Well, put them together, right? I am writing this story, and I can make them do whatever I want. I **_**do**_** have a whole chapter **_**and**_** an epilogue to go. Authors have gotten them together in less, right?**

**Please review and let me know what you think. **

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22 – Deeks

'Thank you, Marty,' Emily said before shaking her head. 'I mean, Detective Deeks. Sorry, I've been calling you Marty for the past month, it's a hard habit to shake…'

'Marty's fine,' I said. 'My own partner doesn't call me Marty, but it is my name, and you can use it if you can't get your head around "Detective Deeks".' I gave her a small smile.

'Thank you for saving my husband,' she said, reaching out and shaking my hand before pausing and then hugging me. 'Thank you for saving my family.'

'Part of the job, Emily. And trust me, this was one of the better ones,' I assured her as she let me go before taking her child into her arms.

'Thank you, Detective Deeks,' David said solemnly as we watched Emily take her sleeping child into the hotel room.

'Just doing my job,' I said easily.

'Really, I… I owe you my life, my wife's life, my daughter… my baby girl.'

'If the positions were switched you know you'd do the same for me.'

He paused. 'What about you and your… partner, was it? Kensi? Is that her real name?'

'Kensi Blye. I've been partners with her for two years now.' I shook my head. 'Three words to describe her: hot, crazy mess.'

David chuckled. 'Hot, yes, I can agree. She seems pretty put together, though.'

'She is the craziest, most kick-ass woman I have or will ever meet. She's honestly nuts. She's been hit by a car before now, you know,' I informed him. 'She got hit side on by a car running after me while I was running after a terrorist that ended up throwing me into the canal in Venice. Got up, shook herself off and started running again.'

'I did notice that she's a hell of a shot,' David said.

'Better than any of the guys on my team.'

David sighed before pausing. 'Well, Detective, I guess this is where we say goodbye.'

'At least until the next time,' I said with a small smile.

He groaned. 'I sure hope not. And, uh, as of midnight tomorrow… or, tonight, rather,' he said, checking his watch, 'I'm no longer in the Navy. So, uh… I doubt we'll meet again, Detective.'

'One day, perhaps,' I said, a little more optimistically.

'Alright then. Until one day…' He offered his hand, and I took it. 'Good luck, Detective.'

'You too, David.' And I turned and walked out of the hotel.

'Hey, Detective?'

I paused and turned around. 'Yeah?'

He stood in the doorway of his hotel room. 'I don't… You got a card?'

I walked back to him, and pulled one out of my pocket. 'Here.'

'You never know when knowing a cop will come in handy, right?' He tapped the card once before putting it into his pocket.

'Good night, David.'

He gave me a wry smile. 'Good morning, Detective.'

And he closed the door, and I walked away.

::

'Safe?' Sam asked when I walked into the Ops Centre.

'Safe, sound and sheltered,' I said, nodding. I looked around the darkened Ops Centre.

'Kensi went to grab a cup of coffee,' Callen said.

Inwardly, I cursed myself. Was I transparent, or something? I shouldn't be that easy to read.

'Thanks,' I said, nodding.

'Would you please go and get her, Mr Deeks?' Hetty asked. 'Get a cup of coffee for yourself while you're at it, won't you?'

'Uh, sure,' I said slowly before going out of Ops and downstairs, only to find Kensi fast asleep on the couch. I gave the sight a fond smile before kneeling beside her fast asleep form on the couch and gently shaking her shoulder. 'Hey, Kens. Come on, partner, wake up.'

She cracked one eye open and glared at me. 'Not likely, Deeks.'

'There are five people upstairs waiting to debrief,' I told her.

Kensi sighed and opened both eyes. 'I really want to go to sleep.'

'I know. I do too. It's been a _long_ day, for all of us. So the faster we get through this, the faster we get this done.'

She let out a long sigh before allowing me to pull her off of the couch. 'Alright then. Come on. I want to go home and go to bed.'

'Agreed. Let's get this over with, partner.'

We exchanged a look and went upstairs with the same determination – we desperately needed sleep.

::

'Alright then,' Hetty said, shaking her head. 'This went as well as can be hoped, I suppose. All of you, go home, get some sleep. Miss Blye, Mr Deeks, I will meet you at your cover house at four o'clock this afternoon to pack up your things.'

'Alright,' I agreed, having already retrieved my violin from the house, and therefore not fearing being discovered, although I was sure that Hetty already knew.

'Good night, Hetty, Deeks, Kensi.' Sam nodded at us, and he and Callen walked out, soon followed by a yawning Eric and Nell.

'Go home, Mr Deeks, Miss Blye,' she said. 'Get some well-deserved rest in your own beds.'

'Best idea you've ever had, Hetty,' I said emphatically. 'I could kiss you, I really could.'

'Please restrain yourself, Mr Deeks,' Hetty said with a small smile.

'I could do that for you,' Kensi offered.

'A kind offer, Miss Blye, but I think you're almost too sleepy to do so. Come, bed time for both of you.'

'I agree,' I said.

'Goodnight, Kensi, Marty,' Hetty said warmly as we walked out of Ops.

'Night, Hetty,' we chorused.

'You want a ride?' I asked Kensi.

'I'd love a ride,' she replied. 'If I drive I'm liable to fall asleep at the wheel.'

'That's why I offered,' I said, offering her my arm.

'Oh, Deeks.' She gave me a smile, but didn't take my arm.

The car ride was quiet, and when I stopped at the traffic lights I took the chance to look over at her. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was steady. I gave her a smile before returning my attention to the driving. Too soon, I pulled up in her driveway, next to her car.

'Kens,' I said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder and repeating the gesture that I'd performed earlier that morning.

'Mmph.' She slowly opened her eyes. 'I'm home?'

'You're home,' I confirmed softly.

She gave me a sleepy smile. 'Alright then. Sleep tight, Deeks.'

'You too,' I replied.

She leaned over and placed a hesitant kiss on my cheek. 'Thanks, Deeks. For everything.' She gave me a small smile before getting out of the car and going into her house. For a moment, she paused at the door, and turned back to look at me before turning back and going into her house, shutting the door behind her.

I sighed before pulling out her driveway, and going home.

::

I lay on my couch, staring up at the ceiling. The sun hadn't had a chance to come out yet, it was so early, and yet sleep wouldn't come. For some reason, I just didn't feel as though it was possible to sleep. I sighed, and rolled over onto my side, reaching out for the television remote and turning the television on, expecting to land on a late night infomercial trying to make me buy a pointless exercise machine, or another weird blender for my kitchen. But no, I turned it on only to find that Kensi's favourite television show, Top Model, was on, and was apparently having a marathon. I bet that if Kensi wasn't so exhausted as she had been earlier tonight, she _definitely_ would be watching it.

Kensi. The reason for my insomnia. I _knew_ that I was in love with Kensi Marie Blye, and I knew that Kensi at least _liked_ me, but I wished I knew exactly how much, so as to not make a complete and utter fool of myself… However, when I did make a complete and utter fool of myself, it did make her smile…

I shook my head at myself and turned the television off before getting up and going into my bedroom. I had a mission – to confess undying love, and not get rejected, punched or arrested. And this was probably my toughest mission yet.

::

Nervously, I got out of the car, clutching my violin in one hand, bow under my arm and phone in my other hand. There were only a few ways this could go: one, Kensi could shoot me for interrupting her much needed sleep; it could happen. Two, she could tell me to stop making such an idiot of myself and send me home – one of the more likely options. Three, she could tell me to stop making such an idiot of myself and then confess herself to be madly in love with me; not so much of a likely option, if I'm honest. Four, she could interpret it as the most romantic thing anyone has ever done and tell me that she loves me – highly unlikely.

I punched out a quick message to her on my phone – 'Come outside.'

Her reply came back so quickly, I had a feeling she hadn't been asleep. 'Why? It's 5:30am, Deeks.'

'Just come outside, and you'll find out,' I replied, adding on a smiley face.

I could just about hear her sigh, and I could see a light come on in her house.

Quickly, I shoved the phone in my pocket and took the bow into my other hand. The front door of her house opened, and she appeared, dressed in shorts and an oversized hoodie. I could tell by her expression that I was definitely one of the stranger things she'd seen this week, and this was LA that we were talking about.

'Deeks, what are you-?'

I held up a finger. 'Sh.'

She narrowed her eyes at me, most likely for shushing her, but she fell quiet, and I raised the bow to the violin.

The moment of truth. Honestly, I was just praying that the strings didn't screech; I was that nervous. Thankfully, they didn't, and the resulting music swam around us in golden tendrils, mixing with the pink and golden light of the sunrise and making it more beautiful than it really was. My fingers flew over the strings, and played the hardest pieces like they were simple scales. I closed my eyes for a moment, concentrating on the most difficult part of the piece – a crescendo, gradually growing louder and faster and louder and faster until something seemed to break, and the music died down to the quietest, tiniest melody that became ostinato, and was repeated again and again, getting quieter and quieter until it slowly died away.

I opened my eyes to find Kensi sitting on her front stairs, chin cradled in the palms of her hands, watching me with suspiciously damp eyes.

She drew in a shaky breath. 'That was… beautiful, Marty.' She pulled one of her hands away to wipe away the lone tear streaking down her cheek. 'Absolutely beautiful.'

I put down the violin and bow and knelt beside her, my knees on the step lower than the one she was sitting on, making us the same height. 'I made you cry?' I whispered, reaching out and wiping away another tiny, beautiful tear, shining in the morning sun.

She sniffled a little bit. 'I s'pose it must've been you.' She gave me a tiny grudging grin.

'That was honestly _not_ my intention, Kens,' I murmured, resting my hand on her shoulder.

'I know.' She paused before continuing, 'It's just because… that was so beautiful, Deeks, and it was for me. No-one's ever done anything like that before _just_ for me.'

'You deserve entire orchestras,' I said softly, shaking my head as I settled myself beside her on the step that she was sitting on.

She snorted. 'Deeks, you've seen my house. Where the hell am I going to put a damn orchestra, which I've got absolutely no use for?'

I laughed. 'You could probably _lose_ a whole orchestra in your house.'

'Hey!' She elbowed me in the ribs, but she was laughing too. 'How could you possibly lose a tuba?'

'Or a timpani,' I added.

She gave me a blank look. _Definitely_ didn't pay too much attention in high school Music Appreciation.

'They're giant drums,' I said.

'Ah. Why didn't you just say that?' she asked, shaking her head at me.

I stifled a yawn. 'I dunno.'

'You're exhausted,' she said softly. 'Have you gotten _any_ sleep in the… two hours since the debrief?'

'No,' I said. 'I tried but… all I could think about was you.'

She gave me a small smile, and got up. 'Come to bed, then, Marty.' Her eyes shone with tiredness, and happiness.

'Gladly,' I yawned, retrieving my violin.

She got up, and I followed suit, but she paused at the door, thoughtfully tapping at her bottom lip with her finger. I could think of a much better use of her lips.

She looked at me, a frown on her face.

'What?' I asked.

'I feel like I've forgotten something,' she replied thoughtfully.

'Did you turn the iron off?' I asked dryly.

'Very funny. No, I forgot to _do_ something.' She looked annoyed.

'Do what?' I questioned.

'Oh, right.' Her face brightened, and she smiled at me.

'You remembered?'

'I forgot to kiss you.' So she leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine.

'I love your memory,' I said the moment she pulled away.

'Shut up, Deeks,' she said, rolling her eyes before yawning widely.

'Come on,' I said, tugging at her hand with my free one. 'Bed time.'

'No arguments from me,' she said, yawning again. 'Hey, Deeks?'

'Uh huh,' I said vaguely, concentrating more on getting her into her bedroom than answering her questions.

'Will you make me breakfast later? With lots of bacon?'

I gave a wry chuckle, and paused a moment to watch the sun rise with her in my arms. 'At this rate, it's gonna be lunch.'

'No complaints.'

'Alright then.'

She smiled softly at me. 'Come to bed, Deeks.'

'I don't know, Kens, I usually insist on dinner and more than a few drinks first…'

'Deeks,' she growled.

I grinned at her and she rolled her eyes before tugging me inside.

Where I promptly fell over a pile of dirty laundry.

She stared down at me with wide eyes, biting at her bottom lip nervously.

'You're lucky I love you,' I told her before accepting her hand and pulling myself up.

'Yeah,' she said softly, reaching up and putting her hand on the nape of my neck. 'I love you too.'

As we kissed, I suddenly felt… happy. This was the good life, and definitely the way it was meant to be.

::

**And happy endings all round… except that this isn't the end. We've still got an epilogue to go, you know. **

**Please review? Pretty please, with whipped cream, pistachios and a Deeks on top? Yummy.**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


	23. Epilogue

Epilogue – Hetty

**One Year Later**

'You're late.' I listened as Sam bluntly informed the new-comer that he was indeed, five whole minutes late. 'Deeks, I thought being with Kensi would be a _good_ influence.'

Kensi chuckled as she placed a coffee on her partner's desk. 'Deeks wouldn't be Deeks if he wasn't late, you know that, Sam. Plus, he claims that it's part of his unpredictability. Says that if he's late all the time, no-one will be able to predict when he's early. Not even me. But, uh, even _I_ can't predict what my partner will do next. Deeks, didn't you leave home, like, two hours ago? What were you doing for _two_ hours?'

'I had stuff to do,' Deeks said, shrugging.

Mr Callen sniffed at the LAPD liaison as he walked past him to get to the coffee pot. 'He doesn't smell like fish, so he hasn't been surfing.'

'Great use of your special agent skills, there, Callen,' Deeks said dryly. 'No, I just… went shopping.'

'_You_ went shopping?' Kensi said disbelievingly. 'You hate going shopping. Even just for groceries.'

'And it's only nine thirty,' Sam said, checking his watch. 'Where is open at seven thirty in the morning?'

'I'm an undercover agent, I have my contacts,' Deeks insisted. However, I could see from my desk that his hand was in the pocket of his jeans, and in the pocket was his purchase – a simple, solitaire diamond engagement ring.

::

_Yesterday_

::

'Hey, Hetty, do you have a minute?' Deeks looked imperceptibly nervous, and if I wasn't mistaken, he'd actually taken the time to comb his hair that morning.

'For you, of course, Mr Deeks. Come in, sit down. Would you like a cup of tea? Very calming for the nerves,' I said smoothly, arranging another cup and saucer on my desk.

'How do you know that I'm…? Oh, right. It's you we're talking about here,' he said dryly, nodding when I held the teapot up. 'Sure. Why not?'

'Why not indeed?' I replied, pouring a cup of tea and pushing it across the table.

'Thanks,' he said softly, sipping carefully.

'What's on your mind, Marty?' I asked, taking a sip of my own beverage.

'I… I want to ask your permission,' he said quickly, getting over his first stumbles.

'Rule eighteen,' I said reminiscently. 'It's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission.'

'Huh?' Deeks asked, confused, and I remembered that he had yet to meet the man known as Gibbs.

'An old friend of mine. He has these rules. Rule number eighteen: it's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission.'

Deeks seemed to think about this for a moment. 'Huh. Interesting. Has he got a lot of rules?'

'Only seventy, as far as I know,' I said.

'_Only_?' he asked, before catching himself. 'Sorry. I'm procrastinating.'

'What do you intend to do that requires my permission, Mr Deeks?' I asked before sipping from my teacup.

'I want to ask your permission to marry Kensi.' He said this very quickly, as if he wanted to say it so that it would be over and done with.

I _almost_ choked on my tea. To say that this was unexpected would be, of course, a lie, but I hadn't expected to be asked permission of. After I had regained composure, I took another sip from my teacup to calm my suddenly shaking hands. 'Why me, Mr Deeks?'

'Because you're Kensi's family. I already asked her mom, and I went to her dad's grave and laid flowers… got as close to asking permission as I could without using a Ouija board, I guess. And since I covered her blood family, I knew I needed to cover her other family. You're basically, like, her second mom, so…' He trailed off into silence, scratching absently at his head.

'Mr Deeks, I am truly honoured.'

'You mean you'll let me marry her? If she says yes, that is.'

'Of course,' I said, smiling at him.

'Really?' His eyes lit up. 'Really truly?'

'Really truly,' I said, indulging him his childish saying.

He grinned at me. 'Hetty, I really want to hug you right now.'

'But you will refrain from doing so, as it will raise suspicions within your co-workers.'

He nodded. 'Good point.' He gulped down the last of his tea, and got up, but paused before going out of the office. He turned and asked, 'Hetty, what's Kensi's ring size?'

::

Of course, being asked for permission to get married was a whole lot less surprising than the actual relationship existing in the first place. You see, we'd been waiting for them to acknowledge their feelings for so long that we started to believe that they never would. So, when we finally did figure out that they were together, and it took almost six months, it was a big surprise.

::

_Six Months and One Week Ago_

::

Callen sniffed the air suspiciously. 'Is Deeks in already?'

'His car wasn't his parking space, so unless he got a ride, no,' Sam said, before drinking a peculiar green concoction from a glass. 'Why?'

'It smells like Deeks in here.'

'Deeks has a particular _smell_?' Sam asked his partner.

'Yeah. He smells like… the sea. And coffee, of course.'

'G, it always smells like coffee in here,' Sam pointed out. 'Because we basically half live off of it.'

'But the sea is like, a whole mile away.'

'Maybe he's gone and left another sand bunker beneath his chair again,' Sam quipped.

'Not likely,' Kensi said, piping into the conversation. 'Hetty made him sweep it up last night after you two left to go to the game.'

'It is suspiciously clean under his desk,' Sam acknowledged, looking beneath his and Deeks' desks.

'But it doesn't just smell like sea and coffee. There's this… it smells like a cocktail.' Callen frowned at his own assessment of the smell.

'A cocktail? Are you suggesting my partner is a drunk?' Kensi asked, a mite tetchily for her, I must admit.

'No. He just always smells like rum and coconut.'

'It's called cologne, gentlemen,' I said, breaking into the conversation.

'You can get cologne that smells like a mojito?' Sam asked.

Callen snapped his fingers and pointed at his partner. 'That's what he smells like. Sea, coffee and mojito.'

'He didn't leave his sweater here,' Sam said, checking his neighbour's desk. 'So it's not that.'

'It smells like Deeks in here, don't you think, Hetty?' Callen asked me.

'It does carry a touch of Mr Deeks' scent, yes,' I agreed with him, catching Deeks' familiar odour in the bullpen.

'But there isn't anything that it could be coming from,' Sam said thoughtfully.

I watched as Kensi got up from her desk and poured coffee into her mug. That white button-down shirt was awfully familiar, but I'd never seen her wear it before… and then I realised.

'Miss Blye.'

Kensi froze, and she knew what I was about to say, judging by the red blush creeping up the side of her neck. 'Yes, Hetty?'

Both men turned and looked at her, distracted by the sudden nervous tone in her voice.

It was Callen that spoke first. 'Isn't that Deeks' shirt that you're wearing?'

'Um… maybe.' Her face was almost bright red by this point.

'Because it's a good two sizes too big,' Sam added.

'Uh huh,' she said edgily.

'Kensi, why are you wearing-?'

Callen was interrupted by a familiar drawl.

'Hey, guys! Are we interrogating Kensi today, or something?'

Slowly, Sam and Callen turned to look at Deeks, who was in the process of dropping his messenger bag behind his desk.

'What?' he asked.

'Oh, screw it!'

Callen and Sam jumped at Kensi's unexpected outburst, and allowed themselves to be easily brushed aside by her.

'Screw what?' Deeks asked.

'This. I'm done hiding it, Deeks.'

'You mean…' He pointed from her to himself and she nodded. 'Oh.'

'You got a problem with that?'

'No. Not at all. I personally thought they had us figured out months ago.'

'Yeah, well, maybe not.'

'You wanna clue in the people who only have half an idea as to what the hell is going on here?' Callen asked, interrupting what seemed to be a private conversation.

'Sure.' And Kensi grabbed Deeks by the collar of his shirt and kissed him.

::

Of course, I had no problem with the relationship… now that it _was_ a relationship, instead of a partnership, or a "thing". There were no rules against it, at least no rules against there being a relationship between Deeks and Kensi, as one was an agent and one only a LAPD liaison. As they say today, I heart loopholes.

Their relationship hasn't affecting their working relationship… or any other relationship they had. They still bicker like they always have, Deeks constantly makes jokes and flirts with her, and Kensi still snipes back and punches him when he goes too far. Only, as Mr Deeks likes to say, he knows it will be kissed better sooner or later.

What attracted me first to partnering Kensi and Deeks was Deeks' apparent inability to take anything seriously. Of course, this was only a façade. I'd known right from the start that he had a large capacity for taking things very seriously. When I'd first met him, in fact, before I'd even had a thought about hiring him, he was getting blind drunk over a case. I'm very sure he was blind drunk: how else do you explain forgetting me?

::

_Four Years Ago_

::

His gravelly, low voice caught my attention first, and I lifted my eyes from my JD on the rocks, which I'd ordered to take my mind off of the hellish day that I'd had, losing Dom and having no clue as to where he was.

He looked like hell. He'd run his hand over his head so many times that his hair resembled a close cousin of a birds' nest. He wore black slacks and a white button-down shirt that had a spot of blood on it, just below where his heart would be. His blue eyes were bloodshot and very tired, and I could tell that the assortment of empty shot glasses and bottles sitting in front of him were beginning to take their toll. In short, he looked as if his day had been even worse than mine own.

I tossed back the last of my drink, and raised my hand for another.

His eyes met mine. 'Let me get that,' he offered softly.

'Sure,' I said, watching as he nodded to the bartender and ordered the same for himself.

'You look like you've had a hellish sort of day,' he said conversationally, running the tip of his finger over the rim of one of the empty shot glasses.

'I don't-'

'You've just got that look about you,' he continued, interrupting me as if I'd never started speaking. 'Kind of sad, but angry too. And depressed. You're definitely depressed. Look like you've lost something. Or someone.'

'A friend.' I was surprised to find myself opening up to him, but he had the sort of charisma, obvious even when drunk, that allowed one to relax and _talk_.

'I'm sorry.' He didn't pry, and for that I was infinitely grateful.

'What about you?' I asked.

He blinked. 'Sorry. 'm doing this all wrong. Marty Deeks.' He offered his hand.

I took it and tried to remember the name on my driver's license… oh. It was _that_ time of the week, was it? 'Sylvia Cole. Why are you here, in the middle of the week, Marty?' I asked softly.

He shrugged. ''m a cop. Case… didn't turn out too good.'

'Didn't get what you wanted?'

'Got what I wanted… too high a price.' He muttered something under his breath, but I didn't catch it.

'Here you go.' The bartender placed two glasses in front of us.

'Cheers. To crappy days, huh?' Marty said bitterly.

'To a better future.'

::

Little did we know what the future had in store for us. A few months later, we met again on a case involving an MMA gym. I remembered him. He didn't remember me.

The past was a funny thing.

::

'What were you talking to Hetty about yesterday?'

Apparently my conversation with Deeks had not escaped Kensi's notice.

'Just stuff,' he said vaguely.

'Interesting stuff?' she asked.

'Very,' he replied, just as vaguely as before.

She sighed.

'Mr Deeks! Miss Blye!' I called to them, before she could try any other interrogation techniques on him that might make him crack.

Both their heads shot up, and they exchanged a glance before walking into my office, both looking quite nervous.

'Yeah, Hetty?' Kensi asked softly.

'This arrived for you this morning,' I said, handing over an envelope.

'What is it?' Deeks asked, taking it.

'I've no clue.'

I watched as they exchanged another glance before Deeks ripped it open, taking out something that looked like a photograph.

'It's Emily and David Paulson,' Kensi said, exchanging a smile with Deeks.

'And little baby Jessica,' Deeks said. 'Not so little anymore,' he amended.

'And a mystery baby…'

They looked at each other before flipping the photograph over.

'Dear Kensi and Marty,' Deeks read. 'He was born last September, seven pounds five ounces. His name is John Martin Paulson, in honour of you and the aliases you used to save us. Sincerely, and forever in your debt, David, Emily, Jessica and John Paulson.'

'They named their kid after us?' Kensi asked softly. 'Or, our aliases?'

'Kensi and Marty Johnson, I recall,' I said.

'So they named the kid John,' Deeks said, shaking his head.

'And then they called him Martin,' Kensi said, shaking her head. 'As if your head wasn't big enough already.'

'What? You won't let me call our first-born son Marty?' Deeks asked her, making puppy-eyes at her.

'Who says we'll ever get to the point of having kids?'

'I dunno… My devastating wit and irresistible good looks?'

'Good Lord… I hope that your children aren't saddled with your annoying personality or your lopsided eyes…'

Inside, both Marty and I were panicking a little bit. I was more than aware that Marty had booked reservations in a little restaurant off the beach that night so that he could propose to Kensi in a suitably romantic setting.

Kensi must have picked up on those vibes, as she turned to Deeks and said, 'What? You really wanna reproduce with me that badly?'

'Huh?' he asked, confused.

'You look _really_ worried,' she said.

'Well, I…' He groaned and bent so that his head banged off of my desk. 'Hetty, I can't _do_ this.'

'Of course you can, Deeks,' Callen said brightly, walking into the office, followed by Sam, Eric and Nell.

'Huh?' He looked up at them. 'What are you guys doing…?'

'Well, you looked like you needed moral support,' Nell said brightly.

'Well, actually, he looked like his dreams were falling down about his ears,' Sam said.

'You… you guys know?' Deeks asked hesitatingly, lifting his head up properly.

'What do you think, Deeks? A clandestine meeting with Hetty yesterday that left you looking _happy_? No-one leaves Hetty's office looking _happy_. They look satisfied, or scared, or worried, or relieved, but never _happy_. Which led us to conclude that you'd got permission,' Callen said.

'Compliment accepted,' I said to him, and he looked faintly surprised.

'Plus, the two grand taken out of your bank account this morning?' Eric added. 'We knew that you weren't being blackmailed, nor was it likely that you were paying someone off…'

'But we knew that it was very likely that you were purchasing something… pretty,' Nell said.

'But how did you guys know…?'

'We keep an eye on everyone's accounts, and if they make or receive a suspicious amount of money, we have to investigate,' Eric explained.

'They often keep receipts digitally, too… There are only so many things that are bought in a not busy store at nine-fifteen in the morning,' Nell said pointedly.

'Great,' Kensi said, looking at everyone in confusion. 'Now everyone knows. Everyone but me! What the hell is going on, Deeks?'

'Well,' he began slowly. 'This really isn't the setting in which I pictured this happening…'

'Too bad, because whatever's happening, it's happening now,' she said, glaring at him.

'I…' He groaned and hit his head against the desk again. 'Hetty, I'm serious, this is… extremely difficult.'

'Well, all you've got to do is _ask_,' I said, reaching over and patting him on the shoulder.

'It's a bloody question, Deeks,' Callen said, grabbing him by the back of his t-shirt and hauling him upright. 'You ask questions every day. Usually of an extremely annoying variety.'

'It's not _that_ easy, G,' Sam said, and Deeks looked up with gratitude at the older, married man, who had been through his all before. 'I remember almost _falling_ to one knee, I was trembling so much. It was only by the grace of God that I didn't drop the bloody… thing,' he finished lamely, remembering that Kensi still didn't know what he was talking about.

'C'mon, Kens, you know what's going on here. Make it easier on poor Deeks, here. You're an agent, put the clues together. Deeks was _shopping_ this morning for something expensive. He had a meeting with Hetty yesterday, and left looking _happy_. Come on, deep down, you know…' Callen prompted slowly.

Very slowly, Kensi's jaw dropped as she realised what was happening. 'Oh,' she squeaked.

'Oh,' Deeks agreed with her before sliding from his chair and kneeling before her on one knee.

'Deeks,' she whispered, eyes widening when he pulled the ring out of his back pocket and flipped open the box.

It was a simple diamond solitaire set in white gold, nothing too fussy or big or overly delicate, just simple but beautiful, much like the woman it was being presented to.

'Kens.' He reached out and took her hand in his. 'Well. I had this whole speech planned, but uh, the paper that it's on is in the jacket that I planned to wear tonight… So this is me vamping.'

She laughed. 'What is it with you planning out every speech you make to me?'

'You're a tough crowd,' Deeks said dryly. 'Now shush, so that I can propose properly.'

She smiled, but remained silent.

'Kensi, Kensi, Kensi. We've been work-married for four years now… We've bickered, you've punched, I've flirted and somehow we've gotten here.' He laughed ruefully and shook his head. 'I can't pinpoint when I fell in love with you. I just know that you've got my heart, and I don't ever want it back. Same deal with this ring, really. If you'll take it, that is, and by extension, me.'

Kensi opened her mouth to reply, and we all leaned forward in anticipation of her answer. And she spoke a single word.

'Yes.'

_The End_

::

**Wow. This story has taken a lot of time, but it was good fun to write, and your reviews were awesome encouragement. Now, I'm sad to announce that there won't be a sequel, due to my inability to write stuff about relationships – I've never been in that sort of relationship before, and it's kinda hard to write about what you've never experienced…**

**I hope you guys liked the ending, and I also hope that you guys will review this chapter and tell me exactly what you thought of it, and this story in general. Also, if you've got an idea for a Densi one-shot that you think I'd write really well, please let me know in either a review or a PM.**

**Barry (purple plot hippo) would also like to thank you for taking the time to read the story, and is sure that there will be another story coming up very soon.**

**You guys are awesome for all your support. Thank you all so very much!**

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


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